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CARLISLE 

OLD AND NEW 



CARLISLE 
OLD AND NEW 



BY THE CIVIC CLUB OF 
CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA 




RAT JU5TITIA 



PRINTED BY 

J. HORACE McFARLAND COMPANY 

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 

1907 






i LIBRARY of CONiiSESSJ! 

Two Copies Keceivea 

DEC 12 igor 

Oonyrmn! tntry 
XXc. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1907 
By The Civic Club of Carlisle, Pennsylvania 



The Civic Club is indebted to Mr, A. Allen Line, of Carlisle, foi the use of his 
valuable negatives of buildings and scenes no longer in existence, and which 
would neither have been made ncr preserved except for his spirit of loyalty 
to the town. All pictures in this book are copyrighted with the volume. 



> 



CONTENTS 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Foreword, i ; Old Fireplace in the Home of Mr, Joseph Bosler, 
I ; Old Street Pump, 3 ; Present Court House Built in 
1845-46, 4. 

I 

Kline's Carlisle Weekly Gazette, 5 ; Mother Cumberland's 
Family, 6; Believed to be the Oldest Home in Carlisle, 7; 
General William Irvine, 14; James Wilson, 15; Where 
Molly Pitcher Lived, 16; Grave of Molly Pitcher, 17; 
Dr. Nisbet, Dickinson's First President, 18; Elm Tree on 
Waggoner's Gap Road, 22; Public Square in 1843, 24. 



II 

Cumberland Valley Railroad Station, 25 ; Horse-chestnut on 
the Lawn of Dr. George L. Shearer, 26; Hanover Street, 
Looking Southward, 27; The Old Graveyard, 29; Sesqui- 
Centennial Argh, 1901, 30; Old Corner of High and Pitt 
Streets, 31 ; Waiting for Passengers, 32; Before the Days 
of Rapid Transit, 32 ; Old Tavern on East Lowther Street, 
33 ; Public Square and Corner of First Presbyterian Church, 
35; Interior of First Presbyterian Church (From 1827 to 
1876), 36; St. John's Episcopal Church and Parish House, 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

38; Geo. Ross, 39; Cumberland County Jail, 41 ; Soldiers' 
Monument, 4.2; "Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son," 
45; Public Square, i860, 48; Requisition received by 
Joseph W. Ogilby, then Secretary of Town Council, 55 ; 
Old Second Presbyterian Church, torn down in 1870, 58; 
The Shelling of Carlisle, 62 ; Bearing the mark of the con- 
flict, 65 ; General Lee's " visiting card," 66. 



Ill 

Winter on the Campus (South Gate), 67; Old West, 68; 
"Lovers' Lane," Dickinson Campus, 71 ; The Old Denny 
Home, 73 ; The First Denny Hall, 74; Denny Hall, March 
4, 1904, 74 ; Laying Corner-stone of New Denny, 1905, 75 ; 
New Denny Hall, 76; The William Clare Allison Memorial 
Methodist Episcopal Church and the Warehouse of R. C. 
Woodward, Which Formerly Occupied the Corner, 77; 
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 79; The J. Herman Bosler 
Memorial Library, 80; School of Miss Becky Weightman, 

82 ; Metzger College and Quaint Old Home of Its Founder, 

83 ; Drawing Room at Metzger College, 84 ; Indian School 
Campus, 85; Hessian Guard House, 87; St. Patrick's 
Rectory and Church, and St. Katherine's Hall. Old Brick 
Church of 1806 in Oval, 89; First Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, Old Foundry Formerly on Same Site, in Oval, 91 ; 
Gen. John Armstrong, 92 ; Grave of General Armstrong, 
93; Park of the Manufacturing Company, 94; Lindner 
Shoe Factory, 95 ; Boiling Springs, 96 ; Scene at Mount 
Holly Springs, 97; Old Forge at Boiling Springs (Built in 
1762), 97 ; Old Elm on the York Road, 98. 



VI 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



IV 

Ancestral Sofa in the Home of Mr. J. W, Henderson, loi ; A 
James Wilson Chair, 102 ; General Henry Miller China, 
103; "Oakland," Homestead of the Late Colonel William 
M. Henderson, 104; Lamps in the Home of A. D. B. 
Smead, Esq., 105 ; Doorway of Mr. David Watts' Home, 
106; Colonial Mantel in Judge Henderson's Back Office, 
107; Mrs. David Watts, 108; A Bridal Gift to Miss 
Juliana Watts, who Married General Edward M. Biddle 
in 1836, 109; A Blaine Chair, no; Residence of the Hon. 
F. E. Beltzhoover, 112; Hallway in Residence of Hon. F. 
E. Beltzhoover, 113; John Bannister Gibson, LL.D., 114; 
Old Piano in the Home of A. D. B. Smead, Esq., 117; 
Sideboard in the Home of Mrs. Parker J. Moore, ii8; 
Mantel in the Home of Mrs. William M. Penrose, 120; 
Doorway of Judge Hepburn's Home, 121 ; Entrance Hall 
of Judge Hepburn's Home, 122; Residence of Mr. John 
W. Plank, 123 ; Residence of the Late John Brown Parker, 
Esq., 124; The Hamilton Clock, 125; The Reed Home, 
Later the Residence of R. C. Woodward, 128; Colonial 
Bedroom in the Home of Hon. Edward W. Biddle, 130; 
Professor Spencer Fullerton Baird, 131; Major John Mc- 
Ginnis, 134; An Invitation from President Washington, 
136; A Spinning Outfit, 137; Through High Street, 137; 
General and Mrs. Henry Miller, and Invitations from Pres- 
ident Washington, 139; The William Penn Chair, 140; 
Toledo Blade — in the Home of Commander Colwell, 141 ; 
Pompey Jim, 142; Yard at the Residence of A. D. B. 
Smead, Esq., 143; Residence of Dr. John C. Long, 144; 
Yard at the Residence of Dr. W. Z. Bentz, 145 ; South 
College Street, Home of Dr. Morris W. Prince on the 

vii 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

Corner, 146 ; Old Corner of North and West Streets, For- 
merly the Shapley Home, 147; " Pa-ha-ta," Home of John 
W. Wetzel, Esq., 148; Oil Street Lamp, 148; Residence 
of Mr. A. F. Bedford, 149; Gas Street Lamp, 149; South 
Hanover Street — a Nasturtium-draped Wall, 150; "Cottage 
Hdl " and Vine-clad Office of F. C. Rosier, Esq,, 151; 
" Mooreland," the Johnston Moore Homestead, 152 ; Resi- 
dence of Mr. John Lindner, 153 ; Residences of the Hon. 
Edward W. Biddle and J. Kirk Hosier, Esq., 154; Beetem 
Warehouse, which Preceded above Homes, 154; Reception 
Hall, in Residence of J. Kirk Bosler, Esq., 155; Franklm 
Public School Building and a First-prize Vacant Lot, 158. 



V 



Civic Club Rooms, 159; High School Assembly Room, Franklin 
Building, 161 ; A Vacation Garden, 162 ; The Annual 
Flower Show of the Civic Club, 163 ; Carlisle Kindergarten 
1906-07, 165; "Sent to calm our feverish brows with 
cooling palm," 167; Home of Mrs. Walter Stuart, 169; 
Humble yet Beautiful — a Small Boy's Civic Effort, 170; 
Young Carlisle, 171 ; afterward, 173. 



vin 



CARLISLE 

OLD AND NEW 




Old Fireplace in the Home of Mr. Joseph Rosier 



FOREWORD 



^S a venerable dame in reminiscent mood, 
/~\ sitting some firelit evening in a circle of 
her friends, might gather in her hands a 
few pictures of some one whom they greatly love, 
and showing first those made in earliest days, 
should add to them a little tale, proceeding 
thus with word and picture lightly through the 
entire life, — so it has been essayed by the Civic 
Club of Carlisle to tell with much simplicity. In 
this little volume, the life-story of their town. 

This idea was the outcome of a desire to pre- 

I 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

serve in permanent form one of the lectures of 
their entertainment course. For not content with 
working solely for the town's material good, they 
have for several years brought some of the cele- 
brated entertainers of the day to brighten and 
enliven the long winter evenings. 

Always included in the number was one of her 
own citizens, for loyalty to Carlisle has ever been 
a conspicuous trait of those who dwell there. 

Then, to show still further this loyalty and devo- 
tion, one evening was given entirely to an address 
upon the town herself. On a great screen, one of 
her most distinguished sons flashed pictures of the 
old and new Carlisle, the while he told the story 
of her life. 

This pictured story the Club wished to pre- 
serve; but learning that only the introduction 
to the lecture had been committed to writing, and 
that the remarks about the pictures had been 
drawn on the instant by the speaker from his 
richly stored memory of the town's life, the 
Club decided to put first within their book his 
introduction, and then to write the story for 
themselves. 

In no sense was it intended to write a history. 

2 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

but rather to follow the example of the fireside 
dame in giving a simple pictured outline of Car- 
lisle's long life. And so the story is offered, with 
the pictures and the lecture's introduction, to all 
who know her, in loving memory of old Carlisle. 




Old Street Pump 




Present Court House Built in 1845-46 



old Court House Built in 1765-66, with Office Annex 

Added in l8oi-oz. Old Town Hall on the Right 

All Destroyed by Fire, March 14, 1845 



line's Carliilc Weekly Gazette 




of Wpflir,rf^ciwUma«Kiwcf7-<«»- foiktoif^i-i w* mod «>£»»>»/■, 
nn «f «a tvltn«MU otaatobmc* Jk- ' arott. _m (amttif. be <t<DtWii u. 
dt^tfcM*. *it'« e*gt9 Mitlin n» b« t&« ecctuuovf^Ati'Oia tttf . 
dtfi •A*>ale»cw «» l^***- ^'jMtiA' A«*-.« iM«tloo ofnirKfc^i, »J1 b. ui^<i itj 

^fr ., ^ 1,11,-1, ^ ,,, r^- t » f mas*. 




ADDRESS BY THE HON. EDWARD W. BIDDLE 



BEFORE speaking of Carlisle Old and New, 
it is desirable that I should briefly narrate 
how Carlisle happened to be called into 
existence in its present location. By virtue of an 
act of assembly passed on January 27, 1750, the 
western portion of Lancaster county was erected 
into a new county called Cumberland, whose 
broad limits embraced all the land within the 
province of Pennsylvania lying west of the Susque- 
hanna River, except that which was in the county 
of York, out of which the county of Adams has 
since been formed. In connection with the sesqui- 
centennial exercises which were held in Carlisle 
in the fall of 1901, the late Captain John B, Landis 

5 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



prepared an instructive diagram showing that, 
of the sixty-seven counties in this commonwealth, 
forty-eight have been carved out of the territory 
which once belonged to Old Mother Cumberland. 







COME TO THE V^ 


FAHWN RWn\OH, \ 


r-iC-.-r 23-24, ^ 


790/. 






2.1 GREar tr It 






All /ILIVE and. 

Prospering 



Five men were named in the act as trustees, 
with authority to purchase a piece of land in some 
convenient part of the county, to be approved of by 
the Governor, and to build thereon a court-house 
and a prison. One of the trustees lived near the 
Susquehanna River, one near Shippensburg, two 
in the present Franklin County, and the fifth 
at a point now unknown. 

Prior to 1750, the inhabitants of the new 

6 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



district had been compelled to travel to far-away 
Lancaster to transact their legal business, occa- 
sioning them much inconvenience and expense. 
Therefore, as soon as Cumberland County was 
created, the first and most important matter to 
be disposed of was the locating of the county seat, 
where a court-house and prison would be built. 
And here came the rub ! Five dififerent places 
were mentioned as desirable sites, each having 
its adherents, these being as follows in their order 
from east to west: ist, on or near the west bank of 
the Susquehanna River; 2d, at Le Tort's Spring, 
where we are now assembled ; 3d, at Big Spring, 
where Newville has since been developed; 4th, at 
Shippensburg ; 5th, at Conococheague Creek, on 
the great road to Virginia, about eighteen miles 
west of Shippens- 
burg. 

The location 
on or near the 
river was never 
seriously consid- 
ered, because of 
its distance from ^, , „ . ^ ,. , 

Believed to be the Oldest Home in Carlisle 
the main body of (Church Alley) 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEU' 

the county. We have no evidence that there was 
any special pressure brought to bear upon the 
trustees in behalf of either that point or Le Tort's 
Spring or Big Spring ; but there was a vigorous 
efifort made by the citizens living in and beyond 
Shippensburg to have said town or the Conoco- 
cheague Creek selected. As a majority of the 
trustees lived in that neighborhood, the Conoco- 
cheague location was finally decided upon as the 
most advantageous, with Shippensburg as second 
choice, the other three places being deemed to lie 
too far east. If this decision had been accepted, 
any town established here would to-day be of 
insignificant size and small importance ; it would 
be destitute of the glorious history and traditions 
which are our inalienable heritage; and it would 
not be called Carlisle, because that name was 
reserved for the county seat. 

But Governor James Hamilton, whose approval 
was necessary, assumed arbitrarily and firmly the 
right to ignore the opinion of the trustees and to 
select the site himself, and awarded the coveted 
prize to Le Tort's Spring. In a letter to Nicholas 
Scull, surveyor-general, dated April i, 175 1, he 
gave the reasons for this selection, and directed 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJ^F 

him to proceed to the spring, which is about four 
miles in length, and in conjunction with Thomas 
Cookson, his deputy, to find out "the properest 
place for the site of the town." He also directed 
the surveyor-general not to fix absolutely or pub- 
lish any particular place, but to make a draft of the 
site chosen and adjacent country and submit it to 
him for the exercise of his own judgment. Messrs. 
Scull and Cookson performed the duty imposed 
on them with such good judgment that the gov- 
ernor ratified their choice of a place, and we are 
here to-night in that town of which they made the 
original draft in the spring of 1751. Ten descend- 
ants of Nicholas Scull are residents of Carlisle at 
the present time. 

The contention concerning the fixing of the 
county seat did not end with the ratification of the 
work of the two surveyors. Later in the year 175 1, 
a petition from the commissioners and assessors of 
the county, who claimed to represent "the far 
greater part of the inhabitants," was presented to 
the general assembly, asking relief from the gov- 
ernor's ill-advised course in removing the courts 
of justice to LeTort's Spring, "a place almost at 
one end of the county." No action was take" on 

9 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

the petition, and the controversy appears to have 
then terminated. 

Shippensburg at this time was quite a flourish- 
ing village, whilst the land selected for the county 
town was mere vacant plantation land, somewhat 
covered by timber, with a dilapidated stockade on 
it and perhaps one or two log cabins. For several 
years after its birth it grew very slowly. 'The only 
information we have as to its condition during that 
period is gleaned from a letter written from Car- 
lisle on May 27, 1753, by John O'Neal to Governor 
Hamilton, the former having been sent to Carlisle 
on public business. The letter states: "The garri- 
son here consists only of twelve men. The stock- 
ade originally occupied two acres of ground square, 
with a block-house in each corner : these buildings 
are now in ruins. As Carlisle has been recently 
laid out, and is the established seat of justice, it is 
the general opinion that a number of log buildings 
will be erected during the ensuing summer on 
speculation, in which some accommodation can be 
had for the new levies. The number of dwelling- 
houses is five. The court is at present held in 
a temporary log building on the northeast corner 
of the centre square. If the lots were clear of 

10 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

brushwood, it would give a different aspect to the 
town. The situation, however, is handsome, in the 
center of a valley with a mountain bounding it on 
the north and south, at a distance of seven miles. 
The wood consists principally of oak and hickory. 
The limestone will be of great advantage to the 
future settlers, being in abundance. A lime-kiln 
stands on the centre square, near what is called the 
deep quarry, from which is obtained good building 
stone. »r 

'^ A large stream of water (Conodoguinet Creek) 
runs about two miles from the village, which may 
at a future period be rendered navigable. A fine 
spring flows to the east, called LeTort, after the 
Indian interpreter who settled on its head about 
the year 1720. The Indian wigwams in the vicinity 
of the great Beaver pond (Bonny Brook) are to 
me an object of particular curiosity. A large num- 
ber of the Delawares, Shawanese and Tuscaroras 
continue in this vicinity; the greater number have 
gone to the west." When O'Neal wrote this let- 
ter, little did he think that it would have a per- 
manent place in the historical literature of the 
town. L. 

Early in October of the same year, a four 

1 1 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

days' conference with the Indians was held here, — 
Richard Peters, Isaac Norris and Benjamin Frank- 
Hn representing the Province. Frankhn thus 
speaks of it in his autobiography : 

"Being commissioned, we went to Carhsle and 
met the Indians accordingly. As those people are 
extremely apt to get drunk, and when so are very 
quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly forbade the 
selling any liquor to them; and when they com- 
plained of this restriction, we told them, if they 
would continue sober during the treaty, we would 
give them plenty of rum when the business was 
over. They promised this, and they kept their 
promise, because they could get no rum; and the 
treaty was conducted very orderly and concluded 
to mutual satisfaction. They then claimed and 
received the rum; this was in the afternoon. They 
were near one hundred men, women and children, 
and were lodged in temporary cabins, built in the 
form of a square, just without the town. In the 
evening, hearing a great noise among them, the 
commissioners walked out to see what was the mat- 
ter. We found they had made a great bonfire in 
the middle of the square ; they were all drunk, 
rnen and women quarrelling and fighting. Their 

12 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

dark-colored bodies, seen only by the gloomy 
light of the bonfire, running after and beating 
one another with firebrands, accompanied by their 
horrid yellings, formed a scene the most resem- 
bling our ideas of an inferno that could well be 
imagined." He concludes that "if it be the 
design of Providence to extirpate these savages 
in order to make room for the cultivators of the 
earth, it seems not impossible that rum may be 
the appointed means. It has already annihilated 
all the tribes who formerly inhabited the sea- 
coast." 

There is not time this evening to go into detail 
concerning Carlisle in the first century of its life, 
or to refer specifically to its most prominent citi- 
zens or principal events. One general fact is patent, 
namely, that the town owes not only its existence, 
but its subsequent growth and prosperity, to the 
circumstance that it was constituted the county 
seat. By reason thereof it was made at the outstart 
a military base, as well as the place at which the 
courts must sit, and jurymen, parties litigant, law- 
yers and witnesses periodically assemble ; and 
naturally the United States barracks was established 
here later, the initial labor on which (according to 

13 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

tradition) was done by Hessian prisoners, who 
were captured at Trenton on the morning of 
December 26, 1776. It by degrees became so 
prominent that the pubHc-spirited men who de- 
cided in 1783 to found a college west of the Sus- 
quehanna River had 
no difficulty in select- 
ing Carlisle as the 
most suitable location 
for it. 

It is a remarkable 
coincidence that at 
practically the same 
time, about the begin- 
ning of 1769, two per- 
sons should have taken 
up their residence in 
Carlisle who were des- 
tined to become the 
most famous citizens we have ever had. They were 
absolutely unlike in every respect. One was James 
Wilson, a brilliant and highly educated Scotch- 
man, who came in to practice law at the age of 
twenty-six ; the other was Mary Ludwig, afterward 
renowned as '^Mollv Pitcher," who arrived from 




General William Irvine 



14 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEH 



New Jersey as a domestic servant at the age of four- 
teen. The former, forceful, learned and ambitious, 

became distin- 
guished because 
of his great ability 
and the import- 
ant services he 
rendered to his 
adopted country ; 
the latter, because 
of a mere incident 
which would have 
passed without 
notice if the actor 

Where Molly Pitcher Lived \^^^ j^ggn ^ i^^p,_ 

In 1776, at the age of thirty-three, Wilson was 
one of the Immortals who signed the Declaration 
of Independence ; two years later Mary Ludwig, 
twenty-three years of age, gained undying fame 
at the battle of Monmouth (New Jersey) by car- 
rying water to the thirsty soldiers in a pitcher, 
whence her sobriquet of "Molly Pitcher," and also 
by acting as gunner in a battery. She is represented 
in bronze, on the base of the battlefield monument 
at Monmouth, in the act of charging a cannon. 

16 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



To-day the remains of Wilson lie in the grave- 
yard of Christ Church, Philadelphia, in which they 
were reinterred by the side of his wife on Novem- 
ber 22, 1906, with great ceremonial, having been 
brought from North Carolina for that purpose by 
a grateful people. The remains of humble Molly 
Pitcher rest in the old graveyard in Carlisle, 
where they were 
originally buried, 
the spot being- 
marked by a 
gravestone which 
was erected by 
the citizens of this 
county on July 4, 
1876, and by a 
cannon and flag- 
staff which were 
placed there with 
imposing exer- 
cises on June 28, 

1905, by the Patri- Grave of Molly Pitcher 

otic Order of Sons of. America. Peace to the ashes 
of both ! 

The Rev. Charles Nisbet, D.D., the first pres- 

17 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



ident of Dickinson College, gave a very doleful 
account, in his letters to Scotland, of the character 
of the people here. Writing from Carlisle in 1790, 

he said : 

"We have no 
men of learning nor 
taste, & of religious 
people the fewest of 
all. Every thing here 
is on a dead level, & 
there is no distinc- 
tion except wealth, 
which few people 
possess here, tho' 
-yf4i«- >- "=i** many live in luxury. 

Dr. Nisbet, Dickinson's First President I CannOt hear of a 

man who is rich enough to pay his debts or to 
keep his engagements. All characters are equal: 
No degree of vice can make a man infamous, nor 
could the highest degree of virtue & piety procure 
any respect to its owner. . . . As to doctrine, 
every one preaches what he pleases; & if he speaks 
loud enough & does not meddle with morality, his 
hearers will bear with him, — at least till they have 
got three or four years' salary in his debt, and then 

18 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

they will use him like a dog till he is obliged to 
seek another congregation." 

This is but a sample of the general tenor of 
the correspondence of the good doctor, who 
was unable to discover much that was admir- 
able in the habits or modes of life of those 
around him. 

In 1786 an act of assembly was adopted, reduc- 
ing the extreme severity of the system of punish- 
ments which had prevailed since the foundation of 
the Province. Until that year there stood in Car- 
lisle, — probably in the centre square near the court- 
house, — a whipping-post, a pillory and a stocks, 
similar to those used in England. One of the most 
frequently perpetrated crimes is larceny, and prior 
to 1786 part of the penalty therefor was public 
whipping. The law provided that for the first 
ofifence of that kind the culprit should be publicly 
whipped on his bare back, with stripes well laid on, 
not exceeding twenty-one ; for the second ofifence 
the number of stripes should be not less than twenty- 
one nor more than forty, and for the third offence 
not less than thirty-nine nor more than fifty. The 
most serious transgressions, such as murder, rob- 
bery, burglary and arson, and what some people 

19 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

regarded as the especially grave one of witchcraft, 
were punishable by death. 

The county records disclose that, down to the 
year 1785 inclusive, at which time the public whip- 
pings ceased, one hundred and fifty-three convicts 
were sent to the whipping-post in Carlisle and 
received lashes varying in number from five to 
thirty-nine, the average being twenty. Of these 
criminals, seventeen were further sentenced to 
stand in the pillory for one hour, and six of them 
had to pay the additional penalty of having both 
ears cut of¥ and nailed to the pillory. The latter 
punishment could not be inflicted for simple 
larceny, but was imposed on those convicted of 
horse-stealing or passing counterfeit money, the 
counterfeiter himself being subject to the death 
penalty. The frequent commission of these two 
crimes at that period, often involving much loss 
to innocent persons, made it incumbent on the 
assembly to adopt drastic measures for their sup- 
pression. The following sentence, pronounced 
October 18, 1785, on a man who was convicted 
of stealing a horse, will serve as an illustration 
of the way in which offenders were compelled 
to do penance : 

20 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIT 

"Judgment that the prisoner, Daniel Clayton, 
be taken from hence to the jail and from thence 
on Wednesday, the 30th of November next, 
between the hours of 8 and 10 o'clock, A.M., be 
taken to the common whipping-post, that he stand 
in the pillory one hour, have both his ears cut ofT 
and nailed to the pillory, and then and there 
receive thirty-nine lashes on his back well laid 
on, restore the horse stolen to the owner, if 
not already done, or the value thereof, pay a 
like value to the President of the State for sup- 
port of Government, pay costs of prosecution 
and stand committed until the whole be complied 
with." 

These statistics on the subject of corporal pun- 
ishment in old Carlisle have never before been 
compiled or made public, and I am able to supple- 
ment them with some information concerning the 
capital punishments at that early time, which has 
also laid hidden until now. Undoubtedly there 
were a great many executions here before and 
during the Revolution ; but as the law required 
at least one member of the supreme court to 
preside at trials where the penalty involved was 
death, the records were kept in that court, and 

21 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



there is not even a memorandum of them in the 
court below. I succeeded in finding in the 
supreme court-rooms in Philadelphia a criminal 
docket commencing in 1778, — the older dockets 
not being there, — which shows that for the nine 
years from 1779 to 1787, inclusive, eleven men 
and two women were sentenced in this town to 
be hanged. One of the women was a slave, 
designated in the indictment as "Negroe Suckey." 

Three of the con- 
demned had been 
found guilty of 
murder, three of 
robbery, two of 
burglary, two of 
counterfeiting, 
oneof rape, one of 
arson, and one of 
an unmentionable 
offence. 

The mention of 
Negroe Suckey 
recalls the fact that there used to be quite a num- 
ber of slaves in Carlisle. A statute was adopted in 
1780 providing for the gradual abolition of slavery 

22 




Elm Tree on Waggoner's Gap Road 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

in this Commonwealth, but in 1800 there were still 
228 in this county, and there was one as late as 
1842. 

It is a singular fact, not generally known, that 
the early judges of this state, with the exception 
of the members of the supreme court, were not 
lawyers. Our county judges were selected from 
farmers and other laymen and were known as 
justices of the peace, — the statute requiring that 
at least three of them should preside at trials. 
Further, the number holding office at the same 
time was not controlled by a fixed rule ; for 
instance, in 1750 eleven were appointed ; in 1764, 
nineteen; in 1770, twenty-nine; in 1771, twenty- 
three. Occasionally about a dozen were on the 
bench at one time, although this was rare, and 
accomplished advocates were compelled to address 
their legal arguments to judges who had never 
read a law-book. For forty-one years after the 
erection of Cumberland County this strange con- 
dition of affairs continued, until finally an act of 
assembly was passed on April 13, 1791, providing 
that the president judge in each district should be 
"a person of knowledge and integrity, skilled in 
the laws." Since that date, the county has had 

23 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

thirteen president judges, two of whom have been 
commissioned twice ; the longest term being that 
of the Hon. James H. Graham, — from December, 
1851, to December, 1871, — and the shortest, that 
of the Hon. Charles Smith, — from March 27, 1819, 
to April 27, 1820, — exactly thirteen months. 

This narrative having proceeded from Genesis 
to Judges, it devolves upon other pens to continue 
the story that will revive memories of the old 
Carlisle, and strengthen interest in the New. 




Public Square in 1843 



24 




Cumberland Valley Railroad Station 



c 



II 

lARLISLE Old and New" — the words 
wake to music the chords of memory in 
countless hearts the wide world over. 
Many there are, not only of those that still dwell 
within its borders but of those that have gone 
elsewhere, who would unhesitatingly name this 
ancient borough the "spot of earth supremely 
blest, a dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest." 
Happy the mother who has such a rich heritage of 
love and loyalty in the hearts of her children ! 

If those who have not had the good fortune to 
be sons of Carlisle by birth or adoption, or to taste 
of its hospitality, would know its whereabouts, let 
them study a map of the Keystone State, and there 
not far from Mason and Dixon's line, in the fruit- 

25 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



ful valley of Cumberland, they will find it. Moun 
tains, spurs of the Blue Ridge chain, stretch their 
protecting arms nearly around it ; and yet the val- 
ley, like the far-ofif vale of Rasselas, is wide enough 
at this point so that one feels like throwing 
back his shoulders and breathing deep and free. 
Low-lying hills, which bear heavy burdens of 

wheat and corn, 
lend unwonted 
variety to the 
landscape ; many a 
grand old maple, 
oak, chestnut and 
elm still offer shel- 
ter from sum- 
mer's heat and 
winter's blast; 
while "apple and 
peach tree fruited 
deep" tell of 
shomes of thrift 
and plenty. In the 
days of '63, when the suns of June had made hill 
and valley glow with the mellow tinge of harvest, 
the region looked a veritable Garden of the Lord to 

26 




Horse-cliestiuii on the Lawn of 
Dr. George L. Shearer 




Hanover Street, Looking Southward 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

the tramping squadrons of the Southland, which 
then came sweeping through field and town. Nor 
should we fail to notice, as we study the landscape, 
the gleaming silver of the gliding streams. Small 
wonder that they are in no haste to join the wait- 
ing Susquehanna, so pleasant is the land they saun- 
ter through, one listless stream idling along until 
it quadruples the distance it needs to travel. 

Carlisle was once the frontier town of an advanc- 
ing civilization. In those far-ofT days, Fort Low- 
ther, standing on High street not far from the 
Public Square, was the place of refuge for the har- 
assed pioneer when the Indian sought redress for 
his wrongs. Though at this time and subsequently 
Carlisle showed its desire to deal justly with the 
men of the forest and to live in peace with them, in 
time of war its sons proved themselves men in 
whose veins ran the red blood of courage. The 
hostile Indians that met Colonel John Armstrong 
and his band of men, whom Carlisle had sent to 
the relief of distressed Kittanning, found foes 
dauntless and irresistible. 

From these early days on to the present, the 
story of Carlisle is a web of many colors. History 
has been made here ; romance and poetry have been 

28 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

lived here. In fact, the rich variety of Hfe that has 
always characterized the old town and kept it out 
of the meshes of the commonplace may, in part, 
account for the subtle charm that has often brought 
back to it those children who have traveled far 
afield. "If you drink of the old town pump, you 
will wish to live and die in Carlisle," is a local prov- 
erb with more than a modicum of truth. Many 
of those w^ho have sought larger fields of action 
have come back in later days 

" To husband out life's taper at the close, 
And keep the flame from wasting, by repose." 




The Old Graveyard 
29 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Others, whose life's sun has set elsewhere, have 
asked that they might sleep their last sleep beneath 
the quiet shades of the Old Graveyard or of 
Ashland. 

It is impossible to say when the Old ends and 
the New begins, in that process of gradual evolu- 
tion of a slow-growing community that feels at 
once a reverence for the past and a pride in the 
present. A few years ago, the citizens of this 
borough decided to commemorate its anniversary 
of a life of one hundred and fifty years. Since that 
date, — October 23-24, 1901, — when avast amount 
of local enthusiasm was developed, they have been 
at the same time looking backward and looking 




Sesqui-Centennial Arch, 1901 
30 




Old Corner of High and Pitt Streets 

forward, with renewed pleasure in both reminis- 
cence and anticipation. 

A work of ingenuity in honor of that occasion 
was a map wrought by Captain J. B. Landis, which 
he named Mother Cumberland's Family, and to 
which he appended an invitation to come to the 
family reunion. The unique merit of this diagram 
was at once recognized by those in charge of the 
sesqui-centennial celebration, who promptly had 
it lithographed and distributed large numbers of 
copies. 

In response to the promised welcome, hun- 
dreds, during those autumn days, entered the 

3^ 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 




town through its modern gateway, the handsome 
brownstone structure now occupying the corner 
of West High and 
North Pitt streets. 
This building was 
erected by the Cum- 
berland Valley Rail- 
road, in 1891, on the 

spot that will at once Waltmg for Passengers 

be familiar to old friends when recalled by the 
picture of the previous buildings. Even the 
grease spots from the heads of loafers have been 
preserved to posterity by the photographer's art. 
No adequate idea of this locality could be con- 
veyed without including Peter Cooke, with his 
"City Bus", who years ago was accorded a recog- 
nized part in the local passenger service, invalu- 
able to the present day. 

Ample provision was afiforded 
the temporal wants of visitors on 
that occasion in pri- 
vate homes and in the 
hostelries with which 
Carlisle has always 

Before the Days of Rapid Transit been amply CQuippcd, 




32 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



provision far different from that afforded by the 
hotels of early days. One of these ancient inns, 
though no longer put to that use, still stands, a 
reminder of that far-off time when the traveling 
public did not come via railroad, trolley line, or 
automobile, but in the lumbering old coach of 
days agone. This 
imposing struc- 
ture bore the 
proud name of 
the Eagle and 
Harp. In 1799 it 
was conducted by 
Charles McManus 
and had previously 
been a hotel for 
many years. The 
mark of the old 
bar is still to be 

seen m a corner ^^'^ Tavem on East Lowther Street 

of the entrance room on the first floor. 

No part of Carlisle is richer in historic associ- 
ation, more suggestive of a venerable past and of 
a prosperous present, than the Public Square, the 
very heart of the town's life. Standing upon it — 

33 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

above which stretched for a few short weeks the 
double span of the sesqui-centennial arch — one 
cannot look north, south, east or west without his 
eyes resting on some spot notable because of the 
famous men whose feet have trodden it, and be- 
cause of events of local and even national import. 
The observer easily judges Carlisle to be what it 
indeed is, a home of churches, two corners of the 
Square being occupied by houses of worship. 

On the northwest corner, bearing the burden of 
its years with all grace and dignity, is the First 
Presbyterian Church, whose walls were built before 
America declared her independence, and whose 
fine proportions still command admiration. Gen- 
eral John Armstrong, a trustee and elder in the 
church, aided in the work. In the pastor's study 
still hangs a charter granted by Thomas and John 
Penn, nephews of the great William. When the 
fires of love for a new country began to glow upon 
American altars, nowhere did they leap higher 
than in Carlisle. Here, in this church dedicated to 
the God of Nations, the flame was fed. On a July 
day following fresh acts of oppression enacted by 
the mother country against the refractory Massa- 
chusetts Bay Colony, a meeting of the influential 

34 




Public Square aiul Corner ot First Pre^.byterian Church 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

men of the county was held, and resolutions were 
passed which show that already the spirit was alive 
that in two more years found utterance in the 




Interior of First Presbyterian Church. From 1827 to 1876 

immortal Declaration. On the committee then 
appointed "to cooperate in every proper measure 
conducing to the general welfare of British Amer- 



CARLISLE OLD AND l^EW 

ica" we find the names of James Wilson and Wil- 
liam Irvine, men "on Fame's eternal beadroll 
worthy to be filed." Venerable is any church in 
which George Washington worshiped. The First 
Presbyterian Church of Carlisle bears this proud 
distinction ; for in the days of the Whiskey Insur- 
rection, while Washington and Hamilton were on 
their way to quell the disturbance, they tarried 
several days in Carlisle and attended divine service 
here, listening to that eminent scholar, Robert 
Davidson, D.D. Another preacher who once occu- 
pied the quaint old pulpit, and whose tones received 
new resonance from the sounding-board pendent 
above his head, was the eminent scholar, albeit at 
times irascible and unwilling citizen, Dr. Charles 
Nisbet, president of Dickinson college. In the 
minds of many of the present generation, this church 
is inseparably associated with the gentle, cultured 
Dr. Conway P. Wing, who for more than forty 
years went in and out among the people, the friend 
of all, and the champion of those who had been 
held in bondage. Like afterglow at end of day, he 
lives again in lives made better by his presence. 

Face to face with the First Presbyterian, stands 
St. John's Episcopal Church. Though the present 

37 




St. John's Episcopal Cluircli and Parish House 

edifice has not yet reached the century mark, 
it was preceded on the same site by one which 
dated its beginning back to the earhest days of 
the town, it being among the first places of wor- 
ship within the present Hmits of the borough. A 
bell sent from Carlisle, England, as a gift to the 

38 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



infant parish, being unaccommodated at St. John's, 
was placed in the tower of the court-house, and at 
its sound people of all faiths made their way to 
their various church homes, until the building was 
destroyed by fire and its tongue was silenced for- 
ever. If we may credit a certain legend, the tones 
of the bell were indeed silvery, the members of 
the Penn family stipulating that the silver in which 
their subscription of 
thirty pounds was 
paid, should be fluxed 
with the coarser ele- 
ments composing the 
bell. St. John's can 
boast the rare honor 
of numbering among 
its former attendants 
two signers of the 
Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, George 
Ross and James Wil- 
son. Perhaps had the 
latter, with his multiple fame of signer of the 
Declaration and framer and defender of the Con- 
stitution, been able to voice his preference in these 

39 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

recent days, he would have asked to be borne to 
his last resting-place, not from any sister church 
in the Quaker city, but from beneath the modest 
arch of St. John's. Another name that not only 
Carlisle but the entire Commonwealth and coun- 
try are proud to claim is also associated with this 
church — that of John Bannister Gibson, Chief 
Justice of Pennsylvania. 

Diagonally opposite, once stood the old court- 
house, erected in 1765-66. The interior was 
wholly occupied by the court-room and galleries, 
no rooms having been provided for officials. This 
made necessary the annex, constructed in 1801-02; 
in this were deposited court books and papers. 
The town hall faced High street, not more than 
fifteen feet away. The apparatuses of the three 
fire companies occupied the first floor, while the 
borough council-chamber occupied the second. 
About one o'clock on the morning of Monday, 
March 24, 1845, this building was fired by an 
incendiary, and was destroyed with all its contents, 
involving the very serious loss of the town records. 
The engines and hose-carriages had been tied 
together and could not be drawn out. The fire 
spread to the court-house and annex, destroying 

40 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

both, but not before the county books and papers 
had been removed to a safe place. 

The present court-house was erected the fol- 
lowing year on the same site, and already is 
regarded as one of the town's landmarks. The fine 




Cumberland County Jail 

Corinthian pillars at the front of the building 
command admiration, though they have suffered 
violence in both peace and war. One of them 
bears a scar received from a shell in '63, and all 
four, in some moment of mistaken zeal for civic 
improvement, were treated to a coat of whitewash, 

41 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 




Soldiers' Monument 



which soon gave way to 
more enduring paint! 
When we remember that 
the pillars are of solid 
sandstone, these acts seem 
akin to painting the lily or 
throwing a perfume on the 
violet ! 

From this building, too, 
many a culprit has walked 
to his temporary home — or, 
in some cases, his doom — 
in the brownstone structure 
not far away. But such un- 
fortunates find themselves 
in no mean dwelling, the 
walls being among the 
handsomest in town, built 
in fine architectural style 
in 1854, at a cost of more 
than fifty thousand dollars. 

Close to the court-house 
stands the soldiers' monu- 
ment, erected in memory 
of the sons of Cumberland 



42 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

County who fell in defence of the Union. It was 
a prompt tribute to these noble dead, who number 
seventeen officers and three hundred and twenty- 
five private soldiers, having been erected only six 
years after the close of the war. 

This reminder of days of strife stands exposed 
to the storms of every passing season. Not so 
those other relics of civil and international strife 
seen in the following picture. Torn to shreds by 
the dogs of war, they are guarded now as price- 
less treasures. In 1817, at the time of rejoicing 
that again "the British yoke was urged upon our 
sons in vain," the Carlisle Guards, a company 
which had aided in the protection of Philadelphia 
during the war, assembled on the Public Square to 
help in the general rejoicing. After the usual mili- 
tary evolutions, they were drawn up by Captain 
Joseph Halbert to receive the "Standard of Col- 
ours" seen at the center of the illustration, a gift 
from the women of Carlisle. The background is 
of richest blue silk, the various devices on it 
bespeaking two qualities for which Carlisle's 
daughters of every generation have been dis- 
tinguished, — skilful fingers and loyal hearts. The 
gift was accepted in the following fitting words : "I 

43 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

receive this standard, the offspring and evidence of 
female taste and patriotism, and shall trust its 
preservation to that native gallantry and disci- 
plined valor which will be marshaled around it." 
Its almost perfect condition, after nearly a century, 
speaks in loudest terms of this "gallantry and 
valor." At the right of this is a veteran of two 
wars. In the days when Carlisle was sending forth 
troops for the preservation of the Union — four full 
companies made up her noble offering — its silken 
folds were fashioned by Mrs. Alexander, wife of 
General Samuel Alexander, and fastened to a staff 
which had seen service among Carlisle troops in 
the days of the Revolution. Thus mounted, it was 
presented to Company A, of which the late Judge 
Robert M. Henderson was the undaunted captain. 
Each broken thread, could we make of it a tongue, 
could tell sad tales of Baltimore streets stained 
with Massachusetts blood, for this was the first 
banner to be carried there after the mob had done 
its work; it could tell also of Bull Run, of South 
Mountain, of the Wilderness. But the story of this 
flag, however fully told, is of soldiers who fought 
with faces ever to the foe. It is still the palladium 
of its same old company, and is in the care of the 

44 



♦ ♦ * * V 



■M. 



1^,,.//^ 



^^^^^^^I^H^^^^B 




\ ^ 






m 


"T ^ 


y 



>2S^ 




"Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son" 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJF 

gallant Captain John I. Fallen. Oddly enough, it 
was photographed for the present sketch in the 
home in which it was made, that of Mr. William 
M. Henderson, North Hanover street, grandson 
of Mrs. Alexander. From the flag at the left the 
blue field has gone, save just enough to hold the 
one star remaining of the many that once studded 
it. This banner belonged to one of the two com- 
panies of cavalry furnished by Cumberland County 
— the Big Spring Adamantine Guards. The cap- 
tain of this company being mustered out after a 
year's service, his place was filled by Captain Wil- 
liam E. Miller, of Carlisle, the present custodian 
of the flag, a man in whose keeping the American 
colors are always safe. 

Returning to the Square, we find its remaining 
corner occupied, unfortunately, by the market- 
house, — unfortunately, for the place is thus over- 
crowded and lacking the beauty of the ideal park- 
way of a colonial town. The first market-house 
of which we have any record was built in 1802, 
and must have been a frail structure, since it was 
blown down in a windstorm. Its successor was 
built in 1836 and did service for forty-two years. 
The pictures of it are interesting, as showing not 

46 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

only the location of the building, but as being a 
study of buyers and sellers at the Carlisle market 
forty years ago. 

But the old Square itself is redolent, every foot 
of it, with the memories of generations. Here has 
stood in public shame the pilloried culprit, with 
what thoughts of remorse or of revenge, who 
can tell? When the time was fast approaching 
for the American people "to assume, among the 
Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station 
to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God 
entitle them," men from all over the Cumberland 
valley assembled here to confer upon the great 
events with which the air was rife. Then was 
written a chapter in the Square's history that 
makes one's blood quicken, as when he reads of 
Pizarro and his sword line in the tropical sand. 
In the one case as in the other the command 
was, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." 
Those that would fight for freedom were bidden 
come to the northern side of the Square ; those 
that would still bear the British yoke, to the south- 
ern side. To the undying honor of the sons of 
Cumberland, it is told that the southern side at 
that hour was empty; three or four, hesitant, went 

47 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIF 

neither way; and the northern part held every soul 
besides. Nor did their zeal slacken when the time 
for action came. Company after company from 
Carlisle went to their country's defense, until it 
was finally feared that there would not be suffi- 
cient men remaining to guard the safety of the 
inhabitants. Not only did this spot resound to the 
tread of the patriots' feet in these days, but not 
a few of the British also marched across it when 
sent here as prisoners of war. Among these were 
the ill-fated Major Andre and Lieutenant Despard. 
The ashes of the former find an honored resting- 
place in Westminster Abbey, while the latter lived 
to go back to England only to die as a traitor 
because of the democratic ideas he had imbibed 
in America. As the house assigned them was but 
a block away, on the corner of South Hanover 
street and Church alley, and they were allowed on 
parole throughout the town, the Square must have 
been often enlivened by their gay uniforms. 

In the days following the framing of the Con- 
stitution, while its adoption by the necessary 
number of states was still pending. Federalist and 
Anti-Federalist celebrated on the Square many a 
barren victory. Even James Wilson, now proudly 

49 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

claimed as a son of Carlisle, was burned in effigy, 
together with Chief Justice McKean, another 
defender of the Constitution. 

During the Whiskey Rebellion, this spot was 
outraged by the erection upon it of a liberty 
pole bearing the illuminated inscription, "Liberty 
and No Excise, O Whiskey!" Though this was 
promptly cut down, it was followed by another 
with the Gallic sentiment of those times, "Liberty 
and Equality." These were sorry days for the old 
Square. Rioting and deeds of violence profaned it, 
insurgents patrolled across it, and now and then 
the air rang to the sound of bullets. It was at this 
time that Colonel Ephraim Blaine, great-grand- 
father of the distinguished statesman of our own 
times, was fired upon because so staunch a friend 
of good government, but happily escaped injury. 
On the other hand, how proudly the Square wel- 
comed the coming of the Father of His Country ! 
Four thousand men accompanied him, together 
with his cabinet. Crowds gathered to do him 
honor. However profound their enthusiasm, it is 
said that their admiration was silent. The presi- 
dent's home while on this visit was but a stone's 
throw away, as he was the guest of Colonel Blaine, 

50 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIV 

who was then hving but a half block distant. 
Everything during this visit was done by the towns- 
people in a way befitting the presence in their 
midst of "the best of great men and greatest of 
good men." 

Though the Square has never seen the imperial 
purple, it has witnessed the coming of one who 
afterward was adorned with it. While exiled from 
France and traveling incognito from New York to 
New Orleans, Louis Philippe, accompanied by two 
brothers, passed through Carlisle. During their 
tarry here, one of the brothers, the Duke de 
Montpensier, had the misfortune to be upset in 
a runaway, but was not so seriously injured as to 
be unable to minister to his own needs. This he 
did by robbing himself of some of his own royal 
blood at the tavern where the party was enter- 
tained. So impressed were the spectators by such 
a manifestation of knowledge and skill that he was 
at once urged to become a permanent practitioner 
in their midst. 

Decade after decade now passes away. The 
Square sees growing up around itself a typical 
Pennsylvania town of culture and refinement. 
Some of the most delightful families in the country 

51 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

made their homes here ; which fact, added to the 
existence of Dickinson college, and for many years 
of a military post, combined to characterize Carlisle 
as an educational and social center. It is not strange, 
then, that the town is so well known, nor that her 
children should have become distinguished in the 
service and council of both state and nation. Those 
who attended the college and those who came to 
and went from the military post were widely scat- 
tered; the descendants of many of our old citi- 
zens are in many places. "Go where you will, 
you will meet some one from Carlisle," has become 
a proverb among us. When Peary returned from 
his recent Arctic expedition, his experience was 
under discussion in a Carlisle home, whereupon 
a wit remarked, "Well, if any one ever does suc- 
ceed in reaching the North Pole, he will find a 
man from Carlisle sitting with his feet cocked up 
on the pole." The following illustrates the truth 
of the proverb. A man from Carlisle, who is now 
living in New York, was climbing the Andes. 
While seated under a ledge of rocks, he whistled 
the air of an American song, and another traveler, 
attracted by the familiar strains, approached, and 
the two fell into conversation. The first traveler 

52 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

presently said to the second: "I don't know where 
you came from, but you talk like a Pennsylvanian." 
The second replied, "I live in Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania; who the devil are you?" "Why, I was born 
in the old town myself forty years ago," was the 
quick response. 

Late in June, more than a generation ago, the 
Square was startled by the sudden consciousness 
that a danger often dreaded was close at hand. 
Every year after the beginning of the civil strife, 
whenever the pleasant weather of summer made 
the movement of the armies a matter of compara- 
tive ease, and the ripe harvest fields drew foragers 
to a land famed for its abundance, the tremors 
of a possible invasion had run through Carlisle. 
Now word was brought by scouts that the unwel- 
come men of the South were at the door. With 
only a few cavalrymen at the barracks, the town 
must look for protection at this trying hour to its 
own men. It did not look in vain. Old and young, 
patrician and plebeian, pastor and people, all 
formed themselves into companies of militia for the 
defence of those otherwise defenceless. The air 
was charged with suppressed excitement. Mer- 
chants began to send their goods to Philadelphia, 

53 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

or to secrete them in the most secure places. 
The diplomas of Dickinson graduates were awarded 
without ceremony. Special trains rumbled across 
the Square, bearing those that dared no longer 
delay. Herds of horses and cows were driven over 
it by farmers who sought to hide their stock in the 
woods of Perry County, or beyond the waters of 
the Susquehanna. Family silver and valuable papers 
were buried or hidden, perhaps, in the dark 
recesses of some furnace chamber. Yet, as the 
hours passed, and no enemy appeared, the more 
sanguine still ventured to hope. 

On the morning of that never-to-be-forgotten 
Saturday, June 27, '63, a lieutenant in the Union 
cavalry rode into town and dismounted at the 
Mansion House. 

"Why are you fellows falling back?" was asked 
by one of the citizens. 

"Lee's army is about to pay you a visit; his 
advance is just out yonder," was the reply. 

"I will bet fifty dollars there isn't a rebel north 
of the Potomac." 

"Keep your cash and your confidence, for you 
may need both." 

A fev/ hours later four hundred Confederate 

54 







^-<sa^^c^^^L^:>-• 



^1 



r- 



i 







Requisition received by Joseph W. Ogilby, then Secretary of Town 
Council. Owned by J. Webster Henderson, Esq. 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

cavalry under General Jenkins entered town and 
immediately demanded fifteen hundred rations. 
In less than an hour the stalls of the market 
house were richly stored, and man and beast 
were fed and filled. Now the strains of '^ Dixie" 
were heard, and looking out Pitt street, to the 
Walnut Bottom road, one saw nothing but march- 
ing men. On they came, many ragged, shoeless, 
hatless, and all begrimed and bedraggled by the 
twenty-mile march covered that June day. Little 
they looked like "the flower of the southern army!" 
Shoulder to shoulder with many a master in these 
ranks marched his negro servant, ready to share 
whatever the fortune of war might bring. General 
Ewell, who before the war had been stationed at 
the barracks, entered at the head of these troops 
and occupied the town. Fortunately Carlisle still 
held her niche in his heart, and this aflfection now 
stood the imperiled tovv^n in good stead, though 
his demand for supplies was too extravagant to be 
complied with. No violence or outrage was per- 
mitted, no buildings were destroyed, and after his 
departure scarcely a sign of occupation by a hostile 
force remained. Many of the soldiers, too, had 
been Dickinson students before the war. These 

56 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEM^ 

took pleasure in renewing old friendships and in 
repaying old favors. At one prominent home the 
family had retired that anxious Saturday night, 
only to be aroused by a ring at the bell. On asking 
who wished entrance and receiving a well-known 
name in reply, the ladies timidly said, "Do you 
come as friend or as foe?" "Always as friend to 
this house," was the quick response. 

Two churches on the following morning opened 
their doors alike to the Blue and the Gray — the 
Second Presbyterian and the First Lutheran. As 
word had been passed through town that the stores 
and shops would be searched at this time, it is not 
strange that most of the accustomed worshipers 
were obeying elsewhere the command, "Watch." 
Dr. Fry, the Lutheran pastor, chose as his Scripture 
lesson the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Psalm. 
When too late to retract, he remembered that it 
contains the command, " Depart from me, therefore, 
ye bloody men." As over half of the sixty present 
were Confederate officers, he politely refrained 
from giving the words a personal touch, passing 
over them as lightly as possible. On the campus, 
where troops were quartered, and at the garrison,, 
services were held by the chaplains in charge. 

57 




Old Second Presbyterian Church, torn down In 1870 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIF 

The following day escape from town was ren- 
dered still more difficult by the destruction of the 
railroad bridge, east of the Square. Fires were 
made of the ties, and the rails, heated and softened 
in these, were twisted around the telegraph poles. 
Grim jokes enlivened the work. "You Yanks 
wanted us back in the Union pretty badly. Well, 
here we are. How do you like it?" 

Tuesday morning music sweeter than any the 
town had ever heard, sounded through the air. 
"Away down South in Dixie Land, Away, Away," 
— soldier feet were keeping step to the notes, while 
from the barracks and from the college campus, 
over the Square, out of the town passed the invad- 
ing troops. Hour after hour went by and still 
sounded the tread of marching feet. Tramping 
horses and rumbling wagons furnished a deep, 
strange accompaniment for the notes of fife and 
drum. "Oh, my darling Nellie Gray, they have 
taken her away," — many a soldier boy then marched 
to the familiar strain who a little later was lying 
stark on Gettysburg's field. "Maryland, My Mary- 
land" and "The Old Kentucky Shore" wait in vain 
for their return. 

At last the old Square breathed freely once 

59 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

again. Horse and foot had disappeared on the 
road to Holly Gap; the dreaded danger was past, 
and life and home were safe. The following morn- 
ing, dusty, travel-stained men rode into town and 
halted on the Square. Their regimentals were 
blue! Cheers rent the air at the welcome sight, 
and men and women came flocking from all quar- 
ters to hear the news so long kept from the 
beleaguered town, and not less to minister to the 
wants of these hungry men. Throughout the after- 
noon of that first day of July, Union troops kept 
arriving until the Square overflowed into the 
adjoining streets. The light of day fades ; but, as 
cool evening comes on, the entire town empties 
itself into the streets. Women and children are 
chatting gayly, relieved from the strain of more 
than a week of suspense. Carlisle's fair daughters, 
in the dainty white gowns and bright ribbons 
which are theirs by birthright, bring pitchers of 
hot coffee, loaves of freshly baked bread, and other 
substantial to the welcome visitors. Suddenly, 
without a word of warning or demand for sur- 
render, batteries open fire. The consternation is 
indescribable. Women shriek and laugh hysteri- 
cally, children weep and cling to their parents, the 

60 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

soldiers rush to disentangle their arms, the horses 
of the cavalrymen leap and plunge while saddles 
are strapped. Shells shriek through the air and 
fall to explode in the streets. Meanwhile, the 
militia are making preparations for resistance. 
Large shade-trees are sacrificed to form a barri- 
cade against a cavalry charge. Soldiers get into 
position to shoot from the roofs of houses, when 
the Confederates shall come marching up the 
streets. Half an hour — though time can not now 
be measured by minutes — and an officer comes 
from General Fitzhugh Lee, under a flag of truce, 
to demand the surrender of the town, with a threat 
that the shelling will be resumed should the 
of¥er be rejected; but, between the pufTs of his 
cigar, General Smith coolly replies, "Shell away 
and be damned." 

"Fifteen minutes for non-combatants to leave 
the town," was the word quickly passed through 
street and alley. The sight that followed happily 
has no parallel in Carlisle's history. The blazing 
gas-works and lumber-yards furnished a hideous 
illumination, by the light of which flight was made 
from town. Rich and poor wended their way 
together on foot to farmhouses, barns, school- 

6i 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

houses — anywhere beyond the shriek of the 
deadly shells. Some withdrew to their cellars, too 
terrified to venture into the streets raked by grape 
and canister. One old lady, who was walking down 
High street, heard the shriek of a shell and pres- 
ently saw all the soldiers prone on the ground, 
where they had thrown themselves to escape the 
efifect of the explosion. "Oh, God be praised for 
his mercy ! " she exclaimed. "And am I the only 
one saved?" Amusing sights added comedy to the 
night's tragedy. One woman fled as rapidly as 
possible, encumbered as she was by a feather-bed 
which she carried to ward of? the shells. One 
hugged a new bonnet as her dearest treasure, an- 
other a gilt-framed mirror, while the route of a 
third was marked by silver spoons, which dropped 
from the pillow-case she was grasping by the 
wrong end. During that terrible night the sky 
was again lit up by the dread glare of a confla- 
gration. The barracks and garrison had been 
fired. But another light soon flashed out near 
Holly Gap, whose language General Lee could 
read. It was a signal-light, and at this summons his 
guns were silenced, and the next morning it was 
found that his entire force had been withdrawn. 

63 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Gradually affairs calmed down, and the Square 
and the town resumed their quiet and content, 
save for a feeling of awe as the reverberations of 
the Gettysburg cannon were heard echoing in hill 
and valley. In the midst of the deluge of rain that 
washed the town clean of the filth of occupation, 
two days afterward, the wounded began to arrive 
and were cared for in the improvised hospital at 
the college. No thought then as to the flag under 
which these men had fought — stars and bars or 
stars and stripes, what matter? Cruel wounds and 
fevered brain — what can be done for them? The 
story of those July days, of the devotion on one side 
when reward was impossible, of the thankful looks 
and yet more eloquent silences on the other — these 
are among the unwritten chapters in the story 
beautiful of Carlisle. 

War's dread alarms are past. When northern 
general or southern general comes into our midst 
now, he comes as a welcome friend. If you glance 
up a half block from the Square you may see in the 
brick wall of the home of the late J. Herman Ros- 
ier a small white tablet. On it you will find the 
words "July i, 1863." On the occasion of a visit to 
town several years ago. General Fitzhugh Lee, 

64 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 




while calling at Mr. Bosler's office, casually in- 
quired, "What is that mark on your house yonder?" 
"General, that is the card you left the last time you 

called," was the signif- 
icant reply. Had he 
entered another home 
not far away, he would 
have found there a re- 
minder of those self- 
same days. A table, 
handed down from 
Revolutionary times, 

Bearing the mark of the conflict waS Standing in the 

hallway of the home of Mr. James Wilson Hen- 
derson, when a Confederate ball came spinning 
through a window and plowed its way into the 
heart of this mahogany. At the time of this visit. 
General Lee and General O. O. Howard found 
themselves shoulder to shoulder as they sat on a 
platform at the Indian School. Foes no longer, 
brothers rather, these white-haired veterans recog- 
nized that each had fought for the right as he had 
seen the right, and above their heads was draped 
the flag of a reunited country. 

The old Square — we leave it now to glance at 

65 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

other places that Old Carlisle has bequeathed to 
New Carlisle, and that Carlisle of to-day will pass 
on to coming years. Peace and war, buying and 
selling and getting gain, mirth and mourning, 
the murderer's frown and the benediction of the 
good man's presence — it can say of these, "All of 
them I saw, and a great part of them I was." 
Before turning our backs upon it, we lift to our 
lips the tin cup at the market-house fountain and 
say, "Here's to your health, and the health of your 
family; long may you live and be happy." 




General Lee's "visiting card 



66 




o 



III 

THER places 
besides the 
Public Square 
are points around 
which the life and his- 
v^SQ ^^^y ^^ Carlisle have 
\%' vlft^ crystallized. Conspic- 
uous among these is 
Dickinson College. 
In its service learned 
men have spent their 
lives and have left an 
impress both intellec- 
tual and spiritual upon 
the entire community. 

Winter on the Campus (South Gate) Within itS Walls haVC 

been trained men who have attained national fame 
as they have gone forth to fulfil their destinies. 
The existence of Dickinson College has, perhaps, 
more than any other one thing, maintained for 
Carlisle a continuous connection with the move- 
ments of the outside world. 

67 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Of the twelve buildings which with their con- 
tents make up the material equipment of the col- 
lege, the one richest in memories and historic asso- 
ciations is Old West, "scion of a hundred years." It 
is one of the most charming examples of academic 
colonial architecture in the country, having about 
itself an air of distinction as of one well born and 
well bred. When the original building was almost 
completed, a misfortune occurred that was regarded 
as a national calamity. A fire, originating in some 
ashes near the building, consumed it on February 
3, 1803. Not only did the trustees of the college 
and the people of Carlisle generously respond in 
that hour of need, but the President of the United 
States, Thomas Jefiferson, members of Congress, 
and many others in public life, sent liberal contri- 
butions for the rehabilitation of the building. The 
donation of President Jefferson was one hundred 
dollars. Be it remembered that in those days 
money was not plentiful; nevertheless, the present 
building was opened for occupancy in the fall of 
1805. Up the brownstone steps, carved with the 
names of some above whom now rests the mossy 
marble, beneath the high portal surmounted with 
that many-paned half-circle, were carried the 

69 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

wounded from Gettysburg. Here they were nursed 
back to life, or went to meet the reward of brave 
soldiers. On the walls of the principal room hang 
portraits of many of the former presidents of the 
college, one of them in the powdered wig of far-of¥ 
days. These many pairs of eyes, some keen and 
some kindly, seem to be still keeping watch over 
the welfare of their former kingdom. Venerable 
also among the buildings of alma mater are Old East 
and Old South. To these three halls, which for 
many years were the only ones of the college, in the 
days before the war came many sons of the South, 
as well as of the North. When the coming tempest 
was betokened, the blood of these often waxed 
hot in debate, two fiery patriots, on one occasion, 
going out to the edge of the town to settle there 
by the bullet the dispute begun in forensic halls. 
Time has laid its hand on all these buildings, but 
with no ungentle touch. They have found a place 
in song and story, and in the lives of the many 
hundreds of graduates who are scattered so widely 
that Dickinson can say, "The sun never sets on 
my domain." 

In 1798, seven and one-third acres of ground, 
an entire square, were purchased by the college 

70 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 



authorities for a campus. Previously this land had 
been an open lot which, it was claimed by some, 
had been promised by the proprietaries as "com- 
mons," or a free pasture for cattle. Quite different 
was the part that this ground was destined to play 
in the drama of the town. Long ago the campus 
won for itself a warm place in the affections of 
college and community. With seats here and 
there, walks broad 
and well kept, a 
wealth of verdure 
overhead and under 
foot, it is a spot which 
one feels in no haste 
to leave. Several 
hundred trees of 
great variety are scat- 
tered over it, and 
many a person pauses 
in the long days of 
midsummer to enjoy 
this shelter from the 
fierce noontide. Un- 
co n scio usly, the 

beauty of the spot, "Lovers' Lane," Dickinson Campus 

71 




CARLISLE OLD JXD XEir 

the equal of which few universities in our country 
can furnish, enters into the hfe tiber of college and 
town, and many an absent son and daughter of 
Carlisle, as well as of Dickinson, heart-hungry and 
world-weary, has longed for the sight of the old 
campus and the sound of the college bell. 

In recent times, the James W. Bosler Memorial 
Hall, the gift of the family of the late James ^^^ 
Bosler, and the Jacob Tome Scientific Building 
have added their pleasing proportions to the 
campus group. 

Across the street from the southeastern corner 
of the campus, stood for many years the Denny 
home. This was built shortly after the Revolution, 
and was occupied in its early days by Simon Bard, 
who had married a sister of Major Ebenezer 
Denny. It remained in the Denny family until it 
was donated to Dickinson College, in 1S95, ^^^ 
which time the old home was torn down. The tra- 
dition is accepted that Washington stood under the 
old locust tree at the corner to review the troops 
as thev passed through Carlisle en route to quell 
the Whiskey Insurrection. On this site was built 
Dennv Hall, which was opened for college uses in 
1S96. In March, 1904, a horror-stricken crowd 

72 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEfF 

gathered to find this beautiful building a mass of 
hopeless flame. Fast and furious was the work of 
destruction, even the college records which were 
in the building not being rescued. Never before 




The Old Denny Home 

or since has Bosler Hall Chapel held so sad a 
gathering of faculty and students as met there the 
following morning for the accustomed worship. 
But the president of the college, Dr. George 
Edward Reed, through whose efforts Denny Hall 

73 




The First Denny Hall 




Denny Hall, March 3, 1904 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

had been built, is a man of faith as well as of 
works. Raising his right hand in a gesture more 
of promise than prophecy, he said, in ringing tones 
that infused courage into the listeners, "Denny 
shall rise again." These words became the slogan 




Laying Corner-stone of New Denny, 1905 

in a campaign for funds among the student body 
and friends of the college, marked by rare zeal 
and self-sacrifice. One brief year, and the promise 
found fulfilment. A new Denny Hall, larger, more 
beautiful than the former, stood with open doors, 
ready for its work. Thus it stands, one of many 

75 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

lasting testimonies to the courage and energy of 
the man who has given to Carlisle a new Dickin- 
son. Carved in stone above the main entrance is 
this record: "Re-erected through the generous 




New Denny Hall 

aid of the trustees, faculties, students, alumni and 
friends of the college, and particularly of public- 
spirited citizens of Carlisle." 

As an illustration of the growth of Carlisle, one 
has but to look at the changes which have taken 

76 




The William Clare Allison Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church and the 
Warehouse of R. C. Woodward, Which Formerly Occupied the Corner 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

place within a comparatively short time on two 
corners adjacent to the Dickinson campus. One 
of these is at the southwestern corner of West and 
High streets, a spot occupied for many years by 
the Woodward warehouse. The location was long 
regarded as on the outskirts, West street being 
originally the borough limit in that direction. At 
length, however, the town had so expanded that 
the old warehouse became an anachronism. It was 
accordingly removed, and in 1890 a Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the William Clare Allison 
Memorial, was built on its site. The church is in 
the Gothic style, graceful in every line. It is often 
called "The College Church," most of the faculty 
and student body worshiping here. A noteworthy 
feature of the interior is the stained-glass windows, 
every ray of light that falls through them reveal- 
ing a beautiful harmony of color. 

Near by is the building formerly occupied by 
this congregation, but now used as the home of 
the Dickinson School of Law. This traces its 
beginning back to one of the earliest schools of 
law established in the United States. 

Opposite another corner of the campus is 
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, dedicated in the 

78 




St. Paul's Lutheran Church 




The J. Herman Bosler Memorial Library 

spring of 1907. Beautiful, spacious, and admirably 
equipped, the building is the product of such zeal 
and devotion as are at once an example and an 
inspiration. It is built of natural limestone and is 
rarely equaled for architectural symmetry. 

Almost opposite Denny Hall stands the J. Her- 
man Bosler Memorial Library, erected and liberally 
endowed by the family of the late J. Herman Bosler. 
Approaching it, one feels that he is about to enter 
a Greek temple, so purely classic are its white 

80 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

marble lines. There is no feeling of disappoint- 
ment as one finds himself in the lobby, surrounded 
by busts of the world's great poets. Looking 
farther on, he sees pictures of masterpieces in 
painting and sculpture hanging on the wainscoted 
oak walls, while the light on the main book-room 
falls through the rich colors of a memorial window, 
designed from Burne-Jones' painting, "Hope." In 
this quiet and beautiful spot, rich and poor 
meet together, and come into close touch with the 
world's best books. Schoolboy and college student, 
children of toil and of ease, all may be found in 
the reading room, book or magazine in hand. For 
nearly ten years Carlisle has counted this library 
among the most powerful of those influences that 
make for civic righteousness. 

Before leaving this section of Carlisle, we walk 
a half square beyond the campus on the west, and 
there we find an imposing structure, one of the 
largest buildings in Carlisle. This is the prepara- 
tory department of Dickinson College. Through 
the influence of Dr. Reed, the building was pre- 
sented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie with the wish 
that it should be named for his friend of many 
years. Dr. Moncure D. Conway, one of the oldest 

8i 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 



of Dickinson's alumni; the school is accordingly- 
known as Conway Hall. The distinguished Doc- 
tor died in Paris on the night of November 14, 

1907, and was 
cremated at Pere 
Lachaise Ceme- 
tery. 

Carlisle may be 
called the home 
of schools as well 
as of churches. 
Besides those al- 
ready referred 
to, there is also 
a college devoted 

School of Miss Becky Weightniaa PYrlllsivelv fo 

young ladies — Metzger College. This school was 
founded and endowed by the late Hon. George 
Metzger, who died after rounding out nearly a full 
century, and whose memory is not suffered to fade, 
"Founder's Day" being annually celebrated at 
the school. The building, with its broad verandas 
and abundant setting of well-kept lawn, attracts 
our attention. Ascending the wide flight of steps, 
we enter, and believe ourselves not in a building 

82 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

devoted to school purposes, but in a well-ordered, 
cultured home. Nor is this feeling dissipated if 
our stay is prolonged. In the spacious parlor, with 
its rare mahogany furnishings, at table, or in the 
recitation room, where we see pupil and teacher 
in close touch with each other, always we feel that 




Metzger College and Quaint Old Home of Its Founder 

here is indeed a "home school," where social as 
well as intellectual culture may be attained, and 
where not only lessons from books are taught, but 
also those higher lessons to be learned only by 
close contact with noble lives. 

More than twenty-five years ago, Carlisle was 
electrified by the coming of an army officer who 

83 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

had not before been at the mihtary post. He was 
attended by a retinue, but not of United States 
soldiers. He came to work out a great purpose — 
that of "civiHzing the Indian wards of our govern- 
ment by bringing them into civihzation." He 




Drawing Room at Metzger College 

came as Captain Pratt, and estabhshed under gov- 
ernment care the CarHsle Indian Industrial School, 
with one hundred and thirty-six pupils. He left 
after a quarter of a century as General Pratt, and 
his world-famed school contained one thousand 
students. During that period there was nothing 
connected with Carlisle that brought the town into 

84 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

so great prominence as the interesting and magnif- 
icent work of the Indian School. People from 
other states and other lands came to visit the won- 
derful institution that had been evolved under the 
personal supervision of its founder. Around the 
old barracks, which were turned over by the gov- 
ernment for his use, grew up a small village of 
buildings devoted to the many purposes requisite 
to the development of physical and moral manhood 
and womanhood. Not only the "three r's" but 
many higher branches are taught here, together 
with arts and crafts that enable these dependents of 
Uncle Sam to become self-supporting, self-respect- 
ing men and women. Through one of the distinc- 
tive features of the school, the Outing System, 
several hundred of them every year are inducted 
into the ways of farm, shop and home in various 
parts of the United States. Even a hasty survey of 
the boys' quarters and girls' quarters shows rooms 
clean, orderly, and suggestive of deftness and taste 
in the occupants. The Indians as athletes are 
known from Boston to the Golden Gate, no foot- 
ball games being watched with greater interest than 
those in which they have a part. Under the present 
administration new features have been added, and 

86 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

the Indian School continues to be a source of local 
pride and the leading institution of its kind in the 
country. 

At one of the entrance gates stands the old 
Guard House, one of the historic buildings of 
Pennsylvania. It is said to have been built by Hes- 
sian soldiers captured by General Washington at 




Hessian Guard House 

the battle of Trenton^ and sent to this place as 
prisoners of war. The building is also associated 
with one of the residents of Carlisle who enjoys, 
if shades still enjoy earthly honors, a national repu- 
tation — Molly Pitcher. After the war was over in 
which Molly won her name and her fame, she is 
said to have spent many a day within these thick 

87 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

and gloomy walls, washing and cooking for the 
soldiers. 

One does not take frequent walks about town 
without seeing the face of a citizen long an essen- 
tial part of the town's life and of its strivings after 
things unseen and eternal. This is Dr. George 
Norcross, pastor of the Second Presbyterian 
Church. On the heads of one generation his hands 
have been laid in baptismal blessing. These have 
grown to manhood and womanhood. They have 
plighted their troths before him, and have brought 
their children to be baptized by him. The occa- 
sion of Dr. Norcross' thirtieth anniversary, in his 
present pastorate, in 1899, was a memorable one, 
when not only his own people, but representatives 
of many of the other Protestant churches of town, 
united in expressions of appreciation and good will. 

" Honor and reverence and the good repute 
That follows faithful service as its fruit, 
Be unto him, whom living we salute." 

The first edifice built by the congregation now 
presided over by this good man, was erected in 
1833. ^^ is still dear to the memory of many, who 
carry a mental picture of its fine exterior, with the 
Ionic portico raised somewhat above the level of 

88 




St. Patrick's Rectory and Church, and St. Katharine's Hall 
Old Brick Church of 1806 in Oval 

the street, as if in consciousness of its classic design. 
After almost two score years, this building was 
found inadequate to the demands of the church, 
and was accordingly replaced by the present Gothic 
structure. 

A few blocks away is St. Patrick's Church. The 
parish was organized in 1779, and is chronologi- 
cally the sixth Catholic parish established in 

89 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Pennsylvania. There was then no other Catholic 
Church between Carlisle and St. Louis. A log 
chapel was its first place of worship, and in 1806 
the old brick church was built by the Rev. Louis 
de Barth, a German nobleman. The present hand- 
some structure was completed in 1893 by the Rev. 
H. G. Ganss, at a cost of $30,000, and is by 
general consent admitted to be the most artistic of 
the smaller Catholic churches of the state. For this 
building, the congregation, consisting of thirty-six 
families, raised $30,000 in twenty-eight months, 
freeing the church from debt. It was consecrated 
on the 114th anniversary of the foundation of the 
parish. St. Katherine's Hall was built by Mother 
Katherine Drexel, and is occupied by six sisters 
of the order she founded for work among the 
Indians and negroes. 

In approaching Carlisle from almost any point, 
one tall, massive tower attracts and holds attention. 
This is the tower of the First Lutheran Church, 
erected on the site of the old foundry. The stone- 
cut words, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," seem 
fitly written above the triple entrance. The build- 
ing is of metropolitan proportions, and is fortunate 
enough to have its lines set oflf by well-kept turf. 

90 




First Evangelical Lutheran Church. Old Foundry Formerly 
on Same Site, in oval 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



Every pillar of the fine interior, every window and 
furnishing, as well as each accessory demanded by 
a working church, speaks of the unflagging devo- 
tion of a people 
not '"^at ease in 
Zion." 

''We bargain 
for the graves we 
lie in," is not of 
necessity true of 
any child of Car- 
lisle, the Old 
Graveyard, as old 
as the borough it- 
self, saving even 
the poorest from 
the potter's field. 
In this quiet spot, 
overshadowed by 

Gen. John Armstrong trCCS that SCCm in 

Strange keeping with the place, not only "the rude 
forefathers of the hamlet sleep," but also men of 
wealth and culture and fame. An elaborate Latin 
inscription sets forth the virtues of the renowned 
and cultured Dr. Nisbet. Under a near-by stone 

92 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEPF 

rests the Christian soldier, Gen. John Armstrong. 
Emigrating to this country from Ireland with his 
wife, he chose the infant town of Carlisle as his 
home, and continued to live here until his death, 
nearly a half century later. A colonel in the French 
and Indian war, in which he won lasting fame at 
Kittanning; a general in the Revolutionary war; a 
councilor in times of peace, whose practical wis- 
dom was sought by the authorities of state and 
nation; the trusted friend of General Washington; 
and a man "living habitually in the fear of the Lord, 
though fearing not the face of man," General Arm- 




Grave of General Armstrong 

93 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

strong is a son whom Carlisle delights to honor. If 
we tarry in this secluded spot, we find that here 
Old Carlisle and New Carlisle are met together. 
Some of the stones bear dates that carry us back a 
full century and a half, while close by may be seen 
the heaving turf of a new-made mound. Here and 
there we are interested to read the inscriptions, 

"Homely phrases, but each letter 
Full of hope and yet of heartbreak, 
Full of all the tender pathos 
Of the Here and the Hereafter." 

The varying interest that Carlisle awakens in us 
does not lessen as we reach the edges of the town. 
If "the beautiful is the touchstone of human prog- 




Park of tlie Mamifartiii iiiir Cuiiipaiu- 

94 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 




Lindner Shoe Factory 



ress," two of these 
places closely as- 
sociated with Car- 
lisle's business 
interests call for 
attention. At the 
western extremity 
are the buildings 
of the Lindner 
Shoe Company, 
vine-clad and at- 
tractive. The sur- 
rounding space, 
notably Lindner 
Park, has within 
a few years liter- 



ally been made to blossom and be glad. The 
grounds of the Carlisle Manufacturing Company, 
under the direction of the public-spirited presi- 
dent, John Hays, Esq., are at the opposite end of 
the town. With their beauty of flower and turf, 
they delight the eye of Carlisle's sons, and give to 
many a stranger who glances at them from the car 
window a hint that he is approaching a town in 
whose heart dwells civic pride. 

95 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEfr 

On the northern extremity is a building to 
which gown and town have recourse when 
"nature's sweet bells are jangled, out of tune." 
Todd Hospital, established by Mrs. Sarah Todd, 
was opened for use in 1896, and is looked upon as 
one of the indispensable institutions of Carlisle. 

Trolley connections afiford Carlisle every oppor- 
tunity for reaching many of its beautiful environs, 
Boiling Springs and Mount Holly Springs being 
favorite resorts for hours of ease. At the former 
we find one of the natural curiosities of Cumber- 




Boilino; Springs 



96 




Scene at Mount Holly Springs 

land County. In not one place only but in many 

places the water boils and bubbles as if in a 

witches' cauldron. Yet a draught is delightfully 

cooling. Around 

the springs has 

grown up a pleasure 

park, visited during 

the summer months 

by crowds from city 

and country-side. 

Not far away is the 

Old Forge, whose 

history stretches oid Forge at BoUing Springs. Built in 1762 

97 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



back to colonial days. Here the blister-steel of that 
time was manufactured, and bullets and cannon 
were cast that took the life of many a redcoat. 

Under the shadow of South mountain lies beau- 
tiful Holly, which we may also reach by a ride 
past wood and hill and valley, where "ill thoughts 
die and good are born." The natural charms 
of the place have been enhanced by landscape 
art until it is one of earth's choicest spots. 

Hawthorne might 
have written of 
Holly: "Lakes 
opened their blue 
eyes in its face, 
reflecting heaven, 
lest mortals should 
forget that better 
land, when they 
beheld the earth 
so beautiful." 

Old Elm on the York Road LoVCly indeed 

is the fringe upon the garment of Carlisle ! To 
the places mentioned must be added the Conodo- 
guinet, too lovely to be told of in dull prose. Let us 
see it through the poet eyes of a son of Carlisle : 

98 





ON THE CONODOGUINET 

By BENNETT BELLMAN 

When the birds are in the bushes and the sun is in the sky, 
Where the golden song of thrush is, when the fleecy clouds are 

high, 
In the balmy air of Springtime, when the blossoms bloom in May, 
I take my boat and row and float, far from the world away. 

Between blue distant mountains are fair Cumberland's green 

hills, 
With sunshine on her fields afar and ripples on her rills, 
With the blossoms on her branches all ablooming in the May, 
In a world that hath no sorrow, in the sunshine of to-day. 

Here old Conodoguinet widens with reflections of its trees 
That show within its crystal depth unruffled by the breeze, 
In its bosom holding fondly there a glimpse of azure sky 
Which doth bend, a dome above me, but below me, too, doth lie. 

With Nature healthful, pure and sweet, now in her smiling 

mood, 
I fain would lay me at her feet, into her courts intrude. 
Learn the deep wisdom here that dwells amid her silent hills 
In song of bird in leafy dells, in ripple of her rills. 

!L(D 99 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

On yonder looming limestone bluff o'er which the sky doth 

shine, 
I see the oalc and elm trees, I see the darker pine. 
Whose sweet balsamic odor is now wafted on the breeze 
Sweeter than perfumed air that blows among Arabian trees. 

Within a sylvan scene like this, what soul could e'er repine? 
To drink the sunlight here is bliss, like old Olympian wine. 
For in the sun and wood and stream, I feel the throbbing heart 
Of the great Mother who doth hold us all of her a part. 

Her "still small voice" one moment fills the- vasty vague 

immense, 
One moment with her pulse I thrill through every wakened 

sense. 
She kindly looks upon me, so ! — my heart hath once beguiled, 
And though she turn and leave me, lo! I know she once hath 

smiled. 

So, floating on the stream to-day, I have this lesson learned — 

Like to a wandering prodigal to her I have returned. 

And fain would let men fight for fame, or learning of the 

books, 
If I may stay with Nature here, beside her running brooks. 




lOO 




Ancestral Sofa in the Home of Mr. J. W. Henderson 



IV 



WHILE the early settlers were naturally 
content with the utmost simplicity of life 
and dress, later times, bringing here to 
an unusual degree an element of wealth and cul- 
ture, demanded an observance of such social re- 
quirements, habits of living, and style of dress as 
were de rigueur in English life of the best type. 

Passing from the days when coarse materials of 
domestic manufacture sufficed for the garments of 
both men and women, one reaches those prosper- 
ous times when the style of dress of people of 
fashion was here, as elsewhere, a distinguishing 
indication of the line drawn between classes. One 
enjoys to picture the little town when "men wore 

lOI 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 



three-quarter or cocked hats and wigs ; coats with 
large cuffs and big skirts Hned and stiffened with 
buckram ; breeches closely fitted, thickly lined and 
reaching to the knee, made of broadcloth for win- 
ter, or silk for summer; silk hose and silver shoe- 
buckles." When the women wore the fullest of 
skirts expanded by enormous hoops, high-heeled 
shoes, white silk stockings, elaborate coiffures sur- 
mounted by large and elegantly trimmed bonnets, 
soft laces and great jeweled ear-rings. 

People sigh for the days that are gone, regret- 
that modern conditions have 
immed the glamour of the aristo- 
ratic life of earlier times which 
marked an individuality to 
the place. The gay whirl 
of society was comprised 
of the town and garrison, 
as the intellectual atmos- 
phere of the college did 
not blend with the dash- 
ing life of a cavalry bar- 
racks community. The 
officers were usually 
West Pointers, who 

I02 




A James Wilson Chair 

Heirloom in the Family of Colotiel William 
M. Henderson 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 






sought the homes of the social leaders in the little 
town, and who of themselves materially contri- 
buted to the pomp and ceremony of a society so 
exclusive as to become pro- 
verbial, and which was per- 
haps as brilliant as could be 
found anywhere in the 
country. Carlisle style and 
hospitality were recognized 
and enjoyed by many from 
far beyond its limits. 

Those who were fortu- 
nate enough to be invited 
to the right houses had the 
pleasure of partaking of 
such collations as were not 
surpassed nor more grace- 
fully served anywhere, while ^^""=^' "^"^^ ^'"^'' ^^'"=^ 
the wit and beauty of the handsomely gowned 
women and the talents of the highly educated 
men, formed a fitting accompaniment for occa- 
sions that are traditional in our annals. 

We have no pictures that can reconstruct these 
scenes, but be it understood that the refined and 
accomplished women who presided over the 

103 





"Oakland," Homestead of the Late Colonel William M. Henderson 

homes were versatile enough to meet all the 
demands that the exigencies of the day made upon 
them. They were famous housekeepers, and as 
the negro employees were not numerous, the 
domestics came chiefly from the genteel white 
population. 

There were no caterers, no pastry-shops, and 
all edibles had to be prepared at home; but, never- 
theless, the most elaborate menus were successfully 
evolved from Carlisle kitchens, while the exquisite 

104 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 



home-made garnishings of fruits and vegetables 
that were prepared for the boned turkey, hams 
and game, were the admiration and despair of 
less-accompHshed housekeepers. 

The gowns of the women, often imported, were 
as elegant as those 
worn in the draw- 
ing rooms of Phil- 
adelphia. Illu- 
mination was fur- 
nishe d by lard 
lamps supple- 
mented with can- 
dles. In addition 
to the use of can- 
delabra, painted 
boards were often 
fitted to the tops 
of doors and win- 
dows, containing Lamps in the Home of A. D. B. Smead, Esq. 

rows of holes for candles, which, when filled, gave 
a very beautiful effect to the spacious rooms and 
hallways, the soft light shedding its own luster on 
the satins and brocades of the women and the gold- 
embroidered uniforms worn by some of the men. 

105 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



During the investiture of the town by General 
Ewell, he issued a request to the women of Carlisle 
that in attending church or appearing in the street, 
they should go forth plainly garbed, in order that 
his soldiers might not become enraged at the sight 

of so much luxury, 
while destitution 
was oppressing 
the women of 
their own south- 
ern land. 

The charming 
colonial doorways 
of some of the 
handsome homes 
led to interiors lux- 
uriously furnished 
and often contain- 
ing wood-work as 
exquisite as could 
be found any- 
where in the state 
of Pennsylvania. 
A delightful 

Doorway of Mr. David Watts' Home ^ j ^ 

Built by Colonel Ephraim Blaine J r 

I 06 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



of its period was that built by Colonel Ephraim 
Blaine, between 1792 and '97, for his son, Robert 
Blaine, to whom he conveyed the property. Being 
afterward pur- 
chased by David 
Watts, Esq., a 
prominent lawyer, 
it was owned and 
occupied by his 
family until his 
son. Judge Fred- 
erick Watts, sold 
it, in 1871, to 
Judge Robert M. 
Henderson, that 
courtly gentle- 
man of the "old 
school," whose 
name Carlisle 
holds in tender 
memory. The ex- 
quisite mantel in 
the apartment that 
for manv years ^, , ■ , ., , • r ■ u . 

•^ Colonial Mantel in Judge Henderson s 

was his back office Back office 




107 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



is indicative of the architectural charm of tlie 
entire house. It is an interesting fact that the 
paper that was put upon the v/alls more than one 
hundred years ago has never been removed from 
behind the bookcases. It was imported from 

France by Mr. Watts, 
a similar paper having 
been brought over at 
the same time for the 
home of the French 
minister at Washing- 
ton. It was made in 
pieces eighteen inches 
square and printed 
from stone blocks, 
being a style of wall 
decoration that was 
necessarily confined to 
luxurious homes. 

Mrs. Watts, whose 
interesting picture is here reproduced, was the wife 
of David Watts, Esq., and daughter of General 
Henry Miller. She continued to reside in the 
home after her husband's death, passing altogether 
seventy years of her life under its roof. 

io8 




Mrs. David Watts 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

It is a matter of great regret that there is no 
portrait extant of Colonel Ephraim Blaine, distin- 
guished son of Carlisle, an eminent citizen and 
a devoted patriot. A child of wealth, born in 
1741, he was in the full flower of his manhood 
when the newly declared free and independent 




A Bridal Gift to Miss Juliana Watts, who Married 
General Edward M. Biddle in 1836 

States of America, being in imminent peril, 
needed and received that magnanimous support 
of personal service and private wealth that is 
indelibly associated with his name. It is stated 
that after saving the army from starvation in the 
awful winter of 1777-78, he was made commissary- 
general of the entire continental army, on the 
personal recommendation of his military chief 
and warm friend, General Washington. These 
patriotic financial sacrifices greatly impaired his 
estate. The mansion at his beautiful country seat 

109 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



on the Conodoguinet, near the cave, has been 
destroyed by fire. It was here that he spent the 
closing years of his Hfe, and here he died at the 
age of sixty-three. Strangely enough, no memorial 
can be found to mark the 
final resting-place of Eph- 
raim Blaine, illustrious 
officer in the Revolution- 
ary army. 

When the Blaine home 
was dismantled, some of its 
splendid furniture was 
purchased by Mr. Michael 
Ege at private sale, and has 
been since then in the 
continuous possession of 
the Ege family. The 
charming chair in the illus- 
tration represents one of a ^ ^\^mt chair 
dozen that glorify the rooms in which they stand, 
along with other furniture and portraits of their 
own beautiful period. 

More or less interest has always centered about 
the stately home that is now owned and occupied 
by Hon. F. E. Beltzhoover. It is one of the most 

no 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

charming residences in Carlisle, and was erected 
in 1815 by Stephen Duncan, a son of Supreme 
Court Justice, Thomas Duncan. Mr. and Mrs. 
Duncan moved into their home before it was 
entirely finished, and upon the day when the mar- 
ble for the front steps was delivered at the house, 
occurred the sudden and untimely death of the 
young wife. Mr. Duncan immediately sold the 
property to his brother-in-law, Benjamin Stiles, 
and sadly left Carlisle. Mr. Stiles moved into the 
house at once, and resided there with his family 
for twenty-four years. 

The next purchaser of this interesting mansion 
was the Rev. John F. E. Thorn, an Episcopal 
clergyman, whose death left the property in the 
hands of his childless widow, a daughter of Judge 
Hamilton. Mrs. Thorn was a clever but eccentric 
woman, whose original sayings and doings are asso- 
ciated in the minds of people still living with the 
home in which she dwelt through the closing years 
of her life. Among local legends, we find that she 
was occupied in her old age in making quaint doll 
effigies of the celebrities of the day, or in painting 
their miniature portraits, and one of her expressed 
ambitions was to "see the devil just long enough 

III 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 




Residence of the Hon. F. E. Beltzhoover 

112 



to get his da- 
guerreotype." 

Her partici- 
pation in social 
life was unique 
in the story of 
a town that 
prided itself 
upon its hospi- 
tality, her hours 
being early, her 
collations sim- 
ple, and the 
music furnished 
by herself. One 
of her special- 
ties was the 
singing of the 
Lord's Prayer 
with an ac- 
companiment 
played on her 
spinet, which, 
it was said, "she 
played as if the 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIV 



keys were red 
hot." Upon one 
occasion, in 
receiving her 
guests, she in- 
dicated the 
hour at which 
they \^'ere to 
leave by saying, 
"I don't wish 
you to say that I 
close my house 
at eight o'clock, 
for I will be 
glad to have you 
remain until 
half-past eight 

tO-niffht " Hallway in Residence of Hon. F. E. Beltzhoover 

One of the singular accidents of the war period 
occurred in Mrs. Thorn's drawing-room during 
the shelling of the town. A ball, having pierced 
the wall of the house, passed through a large 
mirror, cutting a hole in the glass with cleanest 
edges, and shattered the sofa on the opposite side 
of the room. 




113 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



A near neighbor was Chief Justice Gibson, one 
of the most distinguished men who ever Hved in 
CarUsle. He came first into the town as a young 
student from Perry County, adding to his collegiate 

course the study of medi- 
cine in the office of Dr. 
Samuel A. McCoskry. In 
later life, he prided him- 
self upon his knowledge of 
this profession almost as 
much as upon what he 
knew of jurisprudence. In 
the house adjoining that 
now occupied by the Car- 
lisle Club he lived, and in 

John Bannister Gibson, LL.D. it his children WCTC bom, 

and from it he was carried to his last resting-place 
in the Old Graveyard, in May, 1853. One of his 
characteristics was a profound love of music, and 
as an amateur violinist he was perhaps not excelled 
in the United States. He was never known to leave 
home without his violin. Whether starting on his 
circuit on horseback, or in later years traveling 
by railroad, he might perhaps forget a legal 
document or an article of clothing, but never his 

114 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

musical companion. He was accustomed to rely 
upon its strains for help in solving knotty prob- 
lems, and often laid down the pen to reach for the 
violin, — its sweet melody floating through the 
house as he walked up and down his room, fram- 
ing the legal opinions that have ever been treas- 
ured as marvels of judicial learning. 

On one occasion Judge Gibson attended a 
banquet in Boston at which Daniel Webster was 
present. The latter left the feast early, and in- 
advertently took Judge Gibson's hat with him. 
When the party broke up, the judge put on Mr. 
Webster's hat, unaware that it was not his own 
since it fitted him perfectly, and the mistake was 
not discovered until the next day. Each of these 
celebrated men had an unusually large head, about 
twenty-four inches in circumference, Judge Gib- 
son's being slightly the larger of the two. 

The following beautiful epitaph on his tomb- 
stone was written by Justice Jeremiah S. Black: 

"In the various knowledge which forms the 
perfect scholar, he had no superior. Independent, 
upright and able, he had all the highest qualities 
of a great judge. In the difficult science of juris- 
prudence he mastered every department, discussed 

115 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

almost every question, and touched no subject 
which he did not adorn. He won in early man- 
hood, and retained to the close of a long life, the 
affection of his brethren on the bench, the respect 
of the bar, and the confidence of the people." 

Judge Gibson's wit was inherited by his children, 
and they, with his charming and dignified wife, 
always social and hospitable, made of the Gibson 
home a gay rendezvous for the young people of 
the town and officers of the garrison. Mrs. Gibson 
was a daughter of Major Andrew Galbraith, and 
one of six sisters remarkable for their beauty, 
whose home was on the corner of North Hanover 
street, opposite the Presbyterian square. Its fine 
colonial doorway, similar to that of the adjacent 
Watts home, faced the square, the drawing-room 
occupying the entire front of the house. Evidence 
of the handsome woodwork on these premises may 
still be seen on the second floor, in the offices of 
the Bell Telephone Company. 

Mrs. Gibson was one of those who, in the lan- 
guage of early Presbyterianism, was "read out of 
the church" for permitting worldly amusements in 
her home. Afterward attending the Episcopal 
Church, it was said that she carried along many 

ii6 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

of her Presbyterian notions, which proved to be 
very trying to her new pastor. This willingness to 
worship either as a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian 
is interesting, as indicative of the double ascend- 




Old Piano in the Home of A. D. B. Smead, Esq. 

ency of the two churches which were the controll- 
ing influence here in earlier years. It was not 
more uncommon then than now to find members 
of one household attending both places of worship. 
That handsome colonial mansion, with great 

117 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

halls, solid mahogany doors and spacious rooms, 

lying northeast of Carlisle, that for these many 

years has been known as "the county home," was 

built by Mr. Edward Stiles as his country seat, 




Sideboard in the Home of Mrs. Parker J. Moore 

and was named "Claremont." Selling this home, 
Mr. Stiles bought the twin house on East High 
street, adjoining Judge Gibson's, the two families 
always being intimate friends. After some years, 
removing to Philadelphia, Mr. Stiles sold his Car- 

ii8 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

lisle home to Mr. Coleman Hall, whose family 
occupied it until they also sought the City of 
Brotherly Love, when Judge Frederick Watts pur- 
chased the property, using it as a residence until 
his children sold it to the Carlisle Club. Notwith- 
standing these changing occupants it continued to 
be one of the favorite social centers of Carlisle, 
an open-handed hospitality being ever dispensed 
within its walls. Its great side yard, which ex- 
tended to the present Penrose home, was divided 
from the street by a high brick wall and contained 
a number of splendid fruit trees in addition to the 
shrubbery and flowers that graced its walks. It was 
as the guest of Judge Watts that General Taylor, 
President of the United States, was entertained at 
this house. An evidence of the fact that the spirit 
of reverence for those in authority, so manifest in 
the Old World, had not become extinct in the 
breasts of those who dwelt in the New, was found 
in the eagerness of the people to see their Presi- 
dent. Not content alone with the sight of him, 
some asked for a memento, even if it were ''only 
the water in which he had washed his hands." 
Upon the statement being made that the President 
was suffering from a slight indisposition, such gifts 

119 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



were sent to him as to cause the remark that he 
had now enough brandy to drown him. 

Upon stepping 
into the home of 
Mrs. WilHam M. 
Penrose, but a few 
paces distant, one 
is charmed with 
the number of rich 
and beautiful fur- 
nishings that have 
adorned it through 
the Hves of more 
than one genera- 
tion. An exquisite 
Itahan mantel is 
among the gems of 
the house, having 
been imported, 
with two replicas, 
many years ago 
from Florence, 
Italy. One of these is in a home on Washington 
Square, New York, and the other in a public 
museum. 

1 20 




Mantel in the Home of Mrs. William 
M. Penrose 



CARLISLE OLD JND NEW 



Just across the street there stood the Brisbane 
home built by Mrs. Brisbane, who afterward 
married Dr. Henry Duffield, and whose daughter, 
Miss Kate Brisbane, was a great belle in her day. 
The picture of the doorway leading into the beauti- 
ful hall beyond indicates at once both the wealth 
and the taste of the family who erected this man- 
sion. It has been 
familiar to the past 
generation as the 
home of Judge 
Hepburn, whose 
charming personal 
appearance is asso- 
ciated particularly 
with the front steps 
where he was wont 
to sit. His family 
sold the property 
a few years ago 
to Mr. John W. 
Plank, who erected 
upon the lot his 
handsome modern 

dwellmg. Doorway of Judge Hepburn's Home 

121 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



Further up town, on the northern side of High 
street, between Pitt and West streets, stands a 
home that is one of the architectural treasures of 
Carhsle. Its entrance door is flanked by curving 
steps on either side, and from the moment the 
interior is reached, the beautiful woodwork of the 

hall and charming 
proportions of the 
spacious apart- 
ments are mani- 
fest. This delight- 
ful old mansion 
was completed by 
Isaac B. Parker, 
Esq., in 1820, the 
general features 
having been 
planned by his 
wife, who was a 
southerner. Mr. 

Entrance Hall of Judge Hepburn's Home Parker WaS a 

wealthy man, his taxes being proportionately large. 
Taking exception to a certain assessment for 
school taxes, and failing in his efifort to obtain an 
adjustment he asked from the board of directors, 

122 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



he decided to change his residence, and in 1842 
removed his family to BurHngton, New Jersey, evi- 
dently having determined to go to a state where the 
obnoxious school 
taxes were not 
then imposed. His 
son, John Brown 
Parker, Esq., 
whose first wife 
was Miss Marga- 
ret Brisbane, es- 
tablished his resi- 
dence in the Car- 
lisle home which 
is still owned by 
his family. 

The story of 
Carlisle is pecu- 
liarly interwoven 
with that of the 

illdiriarv In its Residence of Mr. John W. Plank 

Old Graveyard lie the remains of three former mem- 
bers of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania who 
were citizens of the borough, and with the excep- 
tion of three years during the term of Hon. Benja- 

123 




"''VSer 




Residence of the Late John Brown Parker, Esq. 

min F. Junkin, Carlisle has continuously numbered 
a president judge among its citizens since that 
office was created in 1791. 

Somewhat more than a hundred years have 
passed since James Hamilton, an aristocratic cit- 
izen, a learned and dignified lawyer, was appointed 
to the office of president judge of this district. 
Always observant of the ceremonials of life, he 

124 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



required the sheriff and tipstaves of the court, car- 
rying a mace, to precede him as he walked in 
wig and gown on official business, between the 
court house and his home on West High street. 

From this home came the splendid Hamilton 
clock, now the property of Captain William E. 
Miller, who purchased it at the executors' sale of 
the effects of James Hamilton, Esq., the donor 
to Carlisle of the Hamilton Library 
Fund. J. Herwick, the local maker 
of this ancient timepiece, was one of JBfW' 
the most successful and well-known 
clock-makers in the colonies. The 
builder of the clock has gone where 
time is not measured ; the eminent 
family whose hours it marked has no 
living representative in Carlisle to- 
day, but the clock itself 

"Through days of sorrow and of mirth, 
Through days of death and days of birth, 
Through every swift vicissitude 
Of changeful time, unchanged has stood." 

A brilliant bar practiced under 
Judge Hamilton, two of its acknowl- 
edged leaders having been Thomas The Hamilton ciock 

125 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Duncan and David Watts, Esqs,, those two of 
whom the following is a favorite local anecdote. 
It seems that Mr. Duncan was of very small 
stature, while Mr. Watts was a large man. On one 
occasion, during a heated legal argument in court, 
Mr. Watts made a personal allusion to Mr. Dun- 
can's size, saying contemptuously that he could 
put him in his pocket. "If you do," replied Mr. 
Duncan, "you will have more law in your pocket 
than you have in your head." 

One also recalls to mind the name of another 
conspicuous resident of early days who wore the 
ermine, the Hon. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, 
who was appointed a justice of the Supreme 
Court in 1799, and shortly thereafter removed to 
Carlisle from Pittsburg. He lived in a house on 
High street immediately west of "White Hall," 
which was then the home and place of business of 
Archibald Loudon, the prominent book publisher, 
and is now the location of W. F. Horn's drug- 
store. He was an eccentric man of much learning 
and, having an almost total disregard for appear- 
ances, furnished a strange contrast to his con- 
temporary of the lower court. Judge Hamilton. It 
is said to have been no unusual thing for him to 

126 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

preside at circuit trials in his shirt- sleeves, with 
his shoeless feet cocked up on the judge's desk. 
His matrimonial venture is suggestive of a certain 
well-known poem, wherein a young girl "raked 
the meadow sweet with hay." It is said that in 
the genial summer time 

"The Judge rode slowly down the lane, 
Smoothing his horse's chestnut mane. 

He drew his bridle in the shade 

Of the apple trees, to greet the maid. 

But the lawyers smiled that afternoon, 
When he hummed in court an old love tune ; 

And the young girl mused beside the well 
Till the ram on the unraked clover fell." 

He was so impressed with her beauty and sim- 
plicity, that a different fate from that of Maud 
Muller was hers, since he sent her to school to be 
educated to the standard of her future position, 
then made her Mrs. Brackenridge. So many fair 
young women dwelt in the same block into which 
he brought his handsome wife that it became cur- 
rently known as "Cupid's Row," where, if tradition 
may be credited, no security could be guaranteed 
for even the most adamantine of hearts. Judge 

127 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

Brackenridge died in 1816 and was buried in the 
Old Graveyard, leaving a book called "Modern 
Chivalry," the first novel written west of the Alle- 
gheny mountains, as well as many miscellaneous 
writings and judicial opinions, to perpetuate his 
name. 

On West High street there stood yet another 
judicial residence, a unique and beautiful home, 




The Reed Home; Later the Residence of R. C. Woodward 

surrounded by large grounds, built by Judge John 
Reed. It was on the corner now occupied by the 
Methodist church, by the home of the president of 
the college, and by the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity 
house. The architectural eflfect of the Reed home 

128 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJr 

was very charming, the house being large and 
low, with basement floor. The drawing-room 
floor was approached by long, curving flights of 
steps on either side of the house, which were a 
delight to the artistic eye. The property was later 
bought by Mr. R. C. Woodward, whose family 
occupied the home during a long period of years, 
finally selling it to Dickinson College to be used as 
a home for the President, Dr. George Edward 
Reed, for whom it was enlarged and materially 
changed in appearance. 

Opposite the Hamilton home was that of Mrs. 
William M. Biddle, the widowed daughter of a 
prominent Presbyterian divine, Elihu Spencer. 
Coming to Carlisle from Philadelphia in 1827, she 
erected the spacious house on West High street 
which until recently has always been occupied by 
some of her descendants. She was a woman of rare 
charm of manner, and possessed of much culture 
and wit; with the result that her house became 
a center for the exclusive life of the times, attain- 
ing then a social distinction which it never lost 
until it was turned into a commercial building in 
1904. Her children, Mrs. Samuel Baird, Mrs. 
Charles B. Penrose, William M. Biddle, Esq., 

129 




Colonial Bedroom in tiie Home of Hon. Edward W. Biddle 

Mrs. George Blaney and General Edward M, 
Biddle, and their descendants, form a truly remark- 
able group of talented men and women. Many of 
them have passed their lives in other and larger 
places, but not one has failed to evince a close 
attachment for the town in which the old home- 
stead was built eighty years ago. 

Dr. George Duffield, pastor of the First Presby- 
terian Church, once cautioned Mrs. Biddle against 
a continuance of dancing and card-playing in her 

130 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



house, at the same time threatening dismissal from 
the church. The lady informed the pastor that her 
views differed from his on these points, and that 
she could be entirely satisfied to worship in the 
Episcopal Church across the way. Later, when a 
division of his congregation occurred and the 
Second Presbyterian Church was dedicated, it was 
said that no one walked 
up its aisles with a firmer 
tread than that of Mrs. 
William M. Biddle. 

Carlisle is indebted to 
one of her granddaugh- 
ters, Mrs. Henry J. Bid- 
die, of Philadelphia, for 
the gifts of the J. Wil- 
liams Biddle Memorial 
Mission Chapel and the 
Lydia Baird Home for 
Aged Women. 

One of her grandsons Professor Spencer Fullerton Baird 

was Professor Spencer Fullerton Baird, whom 
Carlisle loves to place upon its loftiest record of 
distinguished sons. He was born in Reading, but 
early in life was brought here by his widowed 

131 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

mother, who bought the home on West High 
street recently made vacant by the death of Miss 
Rebecca P. Baird, the last member of her family. 
Having been graduated from Dickinson College in 
1840, and in 1845 made professor of natural history 
of that institution, he really did not enter upon his 
life-work until five years later, when he was made 
assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 
at Washington. Here he was put in charge of the 
department of explorations, which under him led 
to the formation of the National Museum. In 1878, 
upon the death of Professor Joseph Henry, Mr. 
Baird was chosen secretary, and to his remarkable 
administration of the afifairs of his office is due the 
expansion of the institution. As a prolific writer 
and editor of scientific publications, his name is 
known throughout the world ; his distinguished 
ability and services have been recognized by 
numerous leading governments in the bestowal 
upon him of medals and orders of distinction, 
as well as honorary membership in scientific 
societies. 

As a Carlisle boy he was a familiar figure to 
jpeighboring farmers, finding his greatest pleasure 
in tramping through the country with his gun on 

132 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

his shoulder. His return home in the evening was 
something to be dreaded by the family, as there 
was no telling what kind of living, crawling crea- 
tures would emerge from his pockets. The birds 
he shot in these tramps through Cumberland 
County he prepared and mounted with his own 
hands, and later in life presented them to the 
Smithsonian Institution, where they continue to 
form its finest local collection of birds. One 
of his theories was that there exists no natural 
antipathy to snakes in human nature, that such 
feeling is merely the result of foolish teaching. In 
support of this conviction, he allowed his own 
small daughter to have a blacksnake as a plaything. 
He died in Washington in 1887. 

It is a remarkable fact that while Professor 
Baird was at the head of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, another Carlisle man. Judge Frederick Watts, 
was filling an equally important federal ofBce as 
Commissioner of Agriculture. Does one wonder 
at the proverbial pride of Carlisle in her own, at 
the self-satisfaction that has always been one of her 
characteristics? An amusing illustration of this 
attitude seems to have been of long standing, if 
one may credit the story that Noah ofifered to take 

133 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



a couple of Carlislers into the ark and received the 
reply, '^No thank you, we have one of our own." 

No pen-picture of life in Carlisle a generation 
back would be complete without mention of him 
who figured as the "court physician," Dr. David 

N. Mahon. He wel- 
comed the advent 
of the coming, and 
when his skill no 
longer availed to 
succor, he soothed 
the closing hours of 
the departing. Not 
only in the capacity 
of physician was 
Doctor Mahon 
sought, but being a 
man of unusual in- 
tellectual attain- 
ments and social 
graces, a brilliant 
conversationalist, a delightful vocalist and a man of 
never-failing wit, he was a welcome guest at every 
social function in Carlisle, and at many abroad. 
Upon one occasion, while dining in Washington, 

134 




Major John McGiiinis 

Who, according to tradition, was Treasurer of the 
United States for the period of one day, under Presi- 
dent William Henry Harrison. 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEfT 

Doctor Mahon's wit and culture so impressed the 
Secretary of State then present, that rising from 
the table, he passed to the back of Doctor Mahon's 
chair and placing his hand on the doctor's head, 
said, "I must feel the development of the head 
from which scintillates such remarkable brilliancy." 
Doctor Mahon at once removed his wig, saying in 
his courtliest tone, "Allow me to facilitate the 
carrying out of your flattering desire." 

A brother of Doctor Mahon, and a man quite 
as brilliant, was John D. Mahon, a member of 
the Cumberland County Bar for seventeen years. 
In 1833 he removed to Pittsburg, spending the 
remainder of his life as one of the most prominent 
lawyers of the smoky city. 

Doctor R. L. Sibbet, in writing of the medical 
profession in Cumberland County, says, "In view 
of the number and character of the military per- 
sonages furnished by Carlisle in the olden times, 
it has been justly called the 'nursery of brave offi- 
cers,' and among these we place Doctor George 
Stevenson." The son of an intellectual and patri- 
otic father, whose full name he bore and whose 
talents and principles he inherited. Doctor Steven- 
son rendered distinguished service in the role of 

135 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



n^' 



both private citizen and soldier. As one of the 
early trustees of Dickinson College, as a skilful 
physician of Carlisle for many years, and as a Rev- 
olutionary officer who won the commendation and 
personal friendship of Washington, his name is 

placed on that 
roll of honor that 
is one of Carlisle's 
priceless posses- 
sions. The quaint 
old invitation card 
received from 
Washington, bid- 
ding Doctor Ste- 
venson to dinner 



(P-^ 



The Prcfidcnt prcfcnts his Coinpli- f> 
mcnts to ^/>^.v„y^«. 



•and requefls the favor oF Ait. 
Company at Dinner, on /c70/jt c/a^ 
next, at 'J o'clock. 



^^ 



An Invitation from President Washington 

at the president's home, is one of many historic 
relics of a bygone age in the possession of the Ste- 
venson family, which is still represented in Carlisle. 
While the men were thus helping with the 
world's work, the women were not idling through 
hours of leisure. The interesting picture of a spin- 
ning outfit recently presented to the Hamilton 
Library Association by the family of the late Levi 
Zeigler, whose property it had been through sev- 
eral generations, calls to mind that age of gentle 

136 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



industry when quilt-making, embroidery, exquisite 
needle-work, spinning and weaving were among 
the feminine occupations of quiet days that were 




A Spinning Outfit 

lived in strange contrast to those of the present 
time. Life was not strenuous when intercourse 
with the outside world was only made possible 
through the use of 
heavy carriages, two- 
wheeled chaises, or 
horse-back riding over 
bad roads; nor yet 
after 1837 when one 
train steamed each 
morning out of Carlisle 




Through High Street 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEfV 

on the Cumberland Valley Railroad, leaving Har- 
risburg on its return trip in the evening "when- 
ever the train from Philadelphia happened to 
arrive there." When the mail was brought into 
town but once a week by postal messenger — the 
newspapers published weekly in Philadelphia some- 
times arriving here a fortnight after their issue — 
when books were not plentiful, then women with 
skilful fingers wrought such beautiful things in 
their leisure hours as to be the wonder and admi- 
ration of their less accomplished successors of 
today. 

General Henry Miller, although a York County 
man, was living in Carlisle at the time of his death 
and was buried with military honors in the Old 
Graveyard in 1824. His active and gallant Revolu- 
tionary War services have placed his name high 
among the patriots of that period. The pictures of 
General and Mrs. Miller, with a copy of invitations 
received by them attached, one being in Wash- 
ington's own handwriting, form a group that is 
delightfully quaint and interesting. A daughter of 
General Miller married David Watts, Esq., and a 
number of their descendants are living now in 
Carlisle and its vicinity. 

138 




General and Mrs. Henry Miller and Invitations from President Washington 

Perhaps the most royal hospitahty of all, dis- 
pensed at any residence in the county, was that of 
the Peter Ege family, who lived at Pine Grove. 
Connected by ties of blood and friendship with 
Carlisle and its people, Mr. Ege and his wife — 
a Miss Arthur, of Virginia — have left many tradi- 
tions of their princely manner of entertaining. In 
later years, the spirit of hospitality was fully sus- 
tained by William M. Watts, Esq., who succeeded 
Mr. Ege in the ownership of this place of delight- 

139 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



ful memories, so picturesquely located on the 
sloping sides of the South Mountain, and so inter- 
woven with the social life of the town as to have 
been practically a part of it. 

The first brick house erected in Philadelphia, 
and consequently the oldest of its kind in the 
state of Pennsylvania, was built in preparation for 
the coming of the proprietary of the 
province, William Penn. The furnish- 
ings were not so modest as the little 
home itself, if one may judge from the 
charmiag and elegant chair that once 
stood in company with 
others of its kind in that 
abode where were often 
held the provincial councils. 
One rejoices to think that 
this chair is more than two 
hundred and twenty-five 
years old, and that it has 
been preserved in all its 

The William Penn Chair _ ^ 

In the Home of the late Mr. Jacob Sener diguity aud bcaUty, whilc 

through many years it has been one of the cher- 
ished possessions of a Carlisle home. 

Of the fate of the fort planted by Columbus on 




140 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

the coast of San Domingo there is no assurance. 
Its very site had been forgotten when in 1906 
chance led to its re-discovery. In clearing ground 
for the erection of a sugar-mill, a San Domingan 
planter unexpectedly struck upon old foundations 
and found embedded in the soil, wedged between 
logs where it had lain concealed for centuries, this 
Toledo blade. The sword was pre- 
sented by the owner of the planta- 




Toledo Blade — in the Home of Commander Colwell 

tion on which it was found to Commander John 
C. Colwell, of the United States Navy, and was 
brought by him to his home in Carlisle. There it 
hangs upon the walls, a picturesque souvenir of 
that memorable date, 1492, when it found its 
way across the sea on board one of the three little 
caravels that sailed into the west on the most 
momentous voyage of discovery ever made. 

"Old Sword! Whose fingers clasped thee 
Around thy carved hilt ? 
And with that hand which grasped thee 
What heroes' blood was spilt?" 

141 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEPF 



Old James Powell, familiarly known as "Pom- 
pey Jim," was a local character unique in the 
annals of his day and generation, being the boot- 
black and pavement sweeper for a certain number 
of gentlemen of the town, and extremely partic- 
ular about the social stand- 
ing of his patrons. With 
his half-witted son John 
as assistant, he made reg- 
ular matutinal calls at the 
houses of his customers to 
black the boots of the male 
members of the house- 
holds. His little bent form 
and grizzled beard are 
remembered by many now 
living. But it was on 
funeral occasions that Jim 
Pompey Jim appeared resplendent in 

carefully brushed clothes and high hat, always 
walking immediately behind the hearse, some- 
times with his hands folded behind his back and 
carrying his cherished hat. He was as particular 
about the funerals he attended as about the boots 
he blacked, honoring no family with either his 

142 





Yard at the Residence of A. D. B. Smead, Esq. 

services or attention that could not meet Jim's own 
particular ideas of "quality." A wit of the time 
laughingly said to her son one day, "Do give an 
occasional quarter to Jim. I am so afraid that he 
will not come to my funeral, and I don't wish my 
family's social standing to sufifer." 

What days of laughter and happiness were the 
old ones! What amusing stories are heard among 
the many echoes of the years that are past ! Car- 
lisle delights yet in that son of its soil who was 
ambitious to be considered "in society," and who, 

143 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEfV 

being unmercifully snubbed by a party of officers, 
said wrathfully to a friend, "They are nothing but 
a lot of damned asymptotes, anyhow," the first 




Residence of Dr. John C. Long 

syllable of the geometrical term having evidently 
struck the speaker as appropriate to the occasion. 

And what a conversational delight was our own 
Mrs. Malaprop, who pronounced a certain pea- 
cock's tail to be "the most beautiful foliage" she 

144 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIV 



had ever seen, and who was so charmed with a 
man who called to see her husband on business, 
that she declared him to be "a perfect gentleman, 
because he held his hat ajar the whole time he was 




Yard at the Residence of Dr. W. Z. Bentz 

talking to me." She was authority, too, for the 
wise statement that, "to have a successful party, you 
must invite people who congeal," and she deplored 
the death of a rising young physician "just when 
his business was getting so complicated." 

H5 




South College Street. Home of Dr. Morris W. Prince on the Corner 

During the Civil War period the approach of 
the southern army caused the temporary departure 
of a number of citizens. One of these, desiring 
information, telegraphed to a friend in Carlisle, 
'^Is the Rebels went?" Almost instantly there 
flashed back the answer, "They is." "Is them 
Ginny cleepers flagrant?" referred to a beautiful 
Virginia creeper twining its graceful course over 
the home of an acquaintance of the querist. 

Whilst our most prominent local poet was usu- 
ally oblivious to the demands of a careful toilet, at 
times he astonished his companions by appearing 
in something fresh and striking. Once upon a 

146 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



summer day he sauntered under the trees, wearing 
a new straw hat around which was a broad blue 
silk band, and upon the blue there ran a narrower 
red one. "What do you think of my new hat?" 
he asked one of his cronies. '^Well, Bellman, you 
seem to be dressed today with a great deal of 
ahandon^^'' was the ready retort. 

Here is one of recent date: A Carlisle man, his 
wife and a married woman friend were in warm 
discussion. Talk waxing earnest, the wife, turn- 
ing to her friend and indicating her husband, 




Old Corner of North and West Streets. Formerly the Shapley Home 





"Pa-ha-ta." Home of John W. Wetzel. Esq. 

said, "Did you ever know any one so persistent 
and unrelenting in driving home a point?" "My 
sakes, didn't I marry one myself?" was the 
unexpected reply. 

It is not what one has or is, but what one 
does, that expresses the worth of an individ- 
ual to a community. If we reflect but for a 
moment, we will realize that among Carlisle's 
priceless possessions are hearts that feel and 
hands that give, and that to an unusual degree 
there prevails here an animating principle 
of steady and lasting interest in the wel- 
fare of the people. 

Of this fact a splendid evidence has 
very recently been made manifest. With 
deep gratitude it is learned that a son of 
148 




Oil Street 
Lamp 





Residence of Mr. A. F. Bedford 

Carlisle, who had flown from the home-nest to 
spend his life as a lawyer in larger places, has 
made a magnificent bequest of more than one 
hundred thousand dollars for the mainte- 
nance of an industrial training-school in his 
native town. This school will be of the New 
Carlisle, and will perpetuate in a noble way 
the honored family name of the donor, Charles 
L. Lamberton, Esq., the while it radiates its 
beneficent influences throughout the years to 
come. 

As all blessings are sweetened if shared 
with others, so do we rejoice in the gener- 
ous gift to the neighboring borough of 
Mount Holly Springs, of the Amelia S. 
Givin Free Library, which stands as a 






149 



Gas Street 
Lamp 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

memorial of the deep interest of a Carlisle woman 
in that industrial town. 

And thus one might ramble on indefinitely 
through the quaint old town, questioning, recall- 
ing, and gleaning from a storehouse that is fairly 
bursting with its treasure of history and anecdote. 




South Hanover Street — a Nasturtium-draped Wall 

One would see, too, that with the passing years Car- 
lisle has not lost that which it has always claimed 
for its own — delightful homes, "life's best rewards 
and best defences." North, south, east and west, 
they stand in continuous and ever-increasing evi- 
dence of the prosperity and happiness of its people. 

150 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEPF 

Northward are seen the colonial homestead 
of the Hendersons, surrounded by its fine old 
trees, that has long been one of Carlisle's land- 
marks; the spacious place of Judge Henderson's 




"Cottage Hill" and Vine-clad Office of F. C. Bosler, Esq. 

family; the handsome residence of John W. 
Wetzel, Esq.; the beautiful homes of the Misses 
Colwell, Mrs. Ellen A. Parker, Mrs. Mary J. 
Rose, John Hays, Esq., and others, all set on 
fair lawns with trees and flowers and vines 

151 




" Moore land," the Johnston Moore Homestead 

adding their individual charm to each place. 
Southward block after block of attractive homes, 
with surrounding sward and dividing hedge, 
lead to the beautiful residences of the Bedford 
families and Mr. John V. Harris. Eastward 
stands "Cottage Hill," the splendid place of the 
late James W. Rosier, now occupied by his fam- 

152 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

ily; while the adjoining office of F. C, Bosler, 
Esq., presents an excellent example of the 
possibilities of beautifying a business place. West- 
ward lies the favorite residential locality of the 
members of the College faculty, many of whom 
have built here their own lovely homes, while 




Residence of Mr. John Lindner 

further on stands "Mooreland," the family estate 
of the late Johnston Moore. This place fairly 
luxuriates in trees, the while a herd of beautiful 
deer roams at will through the private park. 
Nearby are the handsome residences of Hon. 
Edward W. Biddle and J. Kirk Bosler, Esq., with 
the fine corner place of Mr. John Lindner in 

153 




Residences of the Hon. Edward W. Biddle and 
J. Kirk Bosler, Esq. 

close proximity. And up and down the streets one 
sees homes — some old, some new, while some, 

alas! that have 
been cherished for 
generations, whose 
firesides have been 
associated with the 
past, and around 
which hang ten- 
derest memories of 




Beetem Warehouse, which Preceded above Homes 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEJV 

those who made Carhsle what it has been, have 
given wav to the increasing business needs of 
modern times. 

An almost singular love of the town, ancestral 




Reception Hall in Residence of J. Kirk Bosler, Esq. 

and dear, an immeasurable tenderness that has 
ever characterized its sons and daughters, has 
been charmingly typified by Bennett Bellman in 

155 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 
THE BELLS OF OLD CARLISLE 

In the sweetest of our valleys, 

Where the sunshine gleams and dallies 
Over fields all green or golden with their waving weight 
of grain ; 

There, afar in sunshine gleaming, 

Like a vision seen in dreaming, 
Lies a little town of old upon the plain. 

Upon this wild frontier, 

Where the hardy pioneer 
Worshiped God in rudest temples, with rites simple 
and sincere. 

Oft came the solemn spell. 

As he heard the Sabbath bell 
Ring silvery through the silence, keen and clear. 

And again, in later times, 

It may be its mellow chimes 
Called our fathers from their homes within the valley to 
the town, 

Where, strong in right forever, 

They protested they would never 
Submit unto Great Britain, or bow down. 

But since that long ago. 
Swinging slowly to and fro. 
The younger bells, outringing, threw their voices 'gainst 
the sky — 
The church and college bells. 
With their mellow, magic spells, 
In many a silent summer, now gone by. 

156 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

As some happy past appears, 

When our eyes are wet with tears, 
As memory forever, like the moonlight, casts its spells ; 

So, youth and beauty fled. 

And the dreams of youth, all dead, 
Come back to me with memory of its bells. 

As some wanderer, weary, laden. 
Sees a glimpse of distant Aiden, 
And from heaven hears the music thro' its golden gates 
ajar ; 
Or a wanderer, weary, lying 
In a distant land and dying. 
Hears the mournful, mellow music of the bells he loved 
afar ; 

Thus in solemn silence, oft 

I can hear the mellow, soft 
Dim music, sounding ever of the distant bells, erstwhile: 

For a magic memory dwells 

In that tangled tune of bells 
That rin^ from out the past in Old Carlisle. 



157 




Franklin Public School Building and a First-Prize Vacant Lot 




Civic Club Rooms 



V 



LOVE for the past has perhaps made easier 
i enthusiasm for the present. However this 
may be, certain it is that when there swept 
over our broad land in recent years a great wave of 
appeal for civic improvement — a call to organize 
for the public good — Carlisle was as in the days of 
long ago among the first to respond, viewing the 
request as a national summons and at the same 

159 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

time as a local necessity. Quickly the realization 
seemed to dawn that she stood in need of some- 
thing more from her citizens than the paying of 
taxes and the obeying of laws. It was the heart- 
service from her children that she had come to 
lack — a service that they are in duty bound to 
render so long as they live within her sheltering 
arms. And so an association was formed whose 
purpose was to increase interest in the town of to- 
day and in all matters relating to good citizenship. 
This organization has become widely known as the 
Civic Club of Carlisle, and is a strong and impor- 
tant factor in the community life; with its constantly 
increasing membership numbering now more than 
three hundred men and women, it stands com- 
mitted to whatever will conduce to the betterment 
of civic conditions. This tends to create and 
maintain a splendid sentiment in favor of public 
beauty, cleanliness, sanitation, morality, education, 
esthetic cultivation and patriotism, such as shall 
uphold the standard of high ideals set so long ago. 
Naturally, in both its direct and indirect influ- 
ence, the Civic Club has been one of the potent 
factors in the development of the Carlisle of to- 
day — a Carlisle that is abreast of the movements 

1 60 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

of the times in those broad civic Hnes which 
will inevitably be counted in history as among 
the interesting and valuable developments of the 
period in which we live. 

The Club has organized the school children of 
the borough into an active League of Good Citizen- 




High School Assembly Room, Franklin Building 

i6i 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



ship, whose aim is a clean town, clean homes and 
clean lives; it has expended many hundreds of 
dollars in carefully selected, well-framed pictures, 
which have been presented from time to time to 
the public schools, and which are developing a dis- 
criminating taste and judgment among the young; 
it has held for some years an annual picture exhibit, 

and has encouraged 
a love of flowers by 
the distribution of 
flower-seeds among 
the school children, 
requesting reports 
of the result of the 
planting. That an 

A Vacation Garden iutCrCSt iu trCCS 

might be stimulated, premiums have been repeat- 
edly ofifered for both shade and fruit trees and 
awarded one year after the planting, many hun- 
dreds of children having competed for these prizes. 
Rewards have also been of¥ered annually for well- 
kept vacant lots, for floral boxes, and for the plant- 
ing of vines, the Club having set an example in 
such public beautifying by the placing of vines, 
shrubbery and hedges upon the well-kept lawns of 

162 




CARLISLE OLD AND NEir 

the public schools. An annual flower show was 
conducted for four years, which was not surpassed 
in Pennsylvania except by the exhibits of Philadel- 
phia and Pittsburg. Carlisle is fortunate in the 




The Aiiiuial Flower Sliow of the Civic Club 

existence of her exquisite private greenhouses, 
and the public-spirited owners of these cordially 
united with the professional growers in exhibiting 
the best results of the florist's art for the pleasure 
and benefit of the public. Musical entertainments, 

163 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



too, have been given both 
indoors and out, always of 
such a nature as to be of 
permanent value. 

Knowing full well that the 
public school children of 
Carlisle could not have ade- 
quate advantages with the 
school tax at the low rate 
that had prevailed, the Civic 
Club recently laid before 
the board of directors the 
unique petition that local 
taxation be increased. This 

request has been granted. 

During a persistent and continuous efifort for 

clean streets, the Club has presented to the town 

thirty-five waste- 
paper receptacles 

and has kept them in 

repair, has paid for 

the clearing away of 

street litter when 

needed, and owns • 

and operates a street 





CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

sprinkler. Naturally the organization has registered 
unceasing protests against bill-boards, public dumps, 
unsightly business signs, unsanitary conditions, and 
careless disregard of existing laws and ordinances; 
while the cleanliness of the market-house, the 




Carlisle Kindergarten 1906-C7 

enaction of an anti-expectoration ordinance, the 
protection of food supplies from street dust and 
flies, suitable legislation for protection against 
mosquitoes, and extension of water-pipes into the 
homes of the poor, are all matters of public wel- 
fare, concerning which the local authorities have 
been importuned from the beginning of this civic 
awakening. The story of civic work elsewhere, 

165 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



; WEST HIGH ST.; 



together with information regarding local needs 
and progress, were brought before the public for 
more than a year, by conducting a weekly column 
in one of the town papers. 

Among the Club's recent gifts to the town are 

artistic street 
markers made 
after a special 
design, and the 
equipment of a 
schoolroom for a kindergarten. A woman's ex- 
change has been maintained in the Civic Club 
building for several years, and fills the niche pecu- 
liar to these institutions. It is in just such a place 
that one so often finds the "ordinary thing done 
in an extraordinary way." 

Perhaps one of the most practical benefits to the 
community was the establishment, at a time when 
there was no savings-bank in Carlisle, of a savings- 
department wherein deposits were received of any 
sum from one cent up. This was conducted for 
almost four years, during which time thousands of 
dollars were cared for, until the opening of a 
savings-department in the town banks made a con- 
tinuance of the work no longer necessary. 

1 66 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 



The best gift of all, however, is the trained 
visiting nurse, who is maintained for the solace of 
the aged and for the alleviation of the sufferings of 
the sick poor, ministering to those who otherwise 




A 

-♦*. 



" Sent to calm 
Our feverish brows with cooling palm." 

could not have the comfort of skilled nursing. "I 
was sick and ye visited me." 

In small communities one almost invariably 
finds a dearth of high-grade public entertainments, 
since usually as a financial proposition expensive 
attractions cannot be made to pay. The unfortu- 
nate result is a series of ordinary or worse than 
ordinary shows, which become a matter of grave 

167 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

concern to thinking people, for it is a well-known 
fact that a large majority of juvenile court cases 
have been the direct result of immoral entertain- 
ments. Feeling that distinct uplift and safeguard 
are given to any town into which the best procur- 
able talent is brought, the Civic Club successfully 
maintains lyceum courses of a grade that is beyond 
criticism, as is plainly indicated by the following 
list of those who have appeared here and who are 
now booked: 

CHARLES EMORY SMITH 

JACOB A. RHS 

F. HOPKINSON SMITH 

DR. GEORGE EDWARD REED 

BERTHA KUNZ BAKER 

DR. JOHN WATSON (Ian Maclaren) 

J. HORACE McFARLAND 

LEON C. PRINCE 

MADAME KRONOLD 

EDWARD BARROW 

WILLIAM HARPER 

THE KNEISEL QUARTETTE 

DR. C. T. WINCHESTER 

JUDGE EDWARD W. BIDDLE 

GEORGE NEVIN BRANDON 

NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS 

ELLEN BEACH YAW 

MAUD BALLINGTON BOOTH 

MAJOR JAMES EVELYN PILCHER 

SENATOR J. P. DOLLIVER 

This work is planned solely for the literary, musi- 
cal and civic benefit of the people, to whom it is 

i68 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEIV 



a manifest advantage, and it may be said to the 
credit of the town that the best things invariably 
have the largest 
audiences. 

As a propagan- 
dist the Carlisle 
Civic Club may 
be found in, per- 
haps, one of its 
most important 
roles. Not only 
from Pennsyl- 
vania, but from 
many other states, 
have come nu- 
merous letters 
asking for advice 
and information 
touching matters 
of publicimprove- 
ment, or perhaps 
kindly expressing appreciation of the inspiration 
received from the work done in this community. 

A continually strengthening sentiment for mu- 
nicipal progress in Carlisle is everywhere in evi- 

169 




Home of Mrs. Walter Stuart 

Winner of several prizes for exterior window-box 
decoration 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

dence, both on the part of individuals and of the 
broad-minded bodies of men into whose hands have 
been committed the administration of its affairs. 
"He who adds beauty to the world adds joy," is 
a thought that has been fully grasped by many 
present-day citizens of the town. They find delight 
in the broad streets and open squares that were 




Humble yet Beautiful — a Small Boy's Civic Effort 

bestowed upon their forefathers by the heirs of 
William Penn and in the splendid old colonial 
landmarks that are their heritage. They also 
rejoice in the fact that the handsome modern 
homes, the churches, the schools, the indus- 
trial buildings with their park-like surroundings, 
that are of this later period, are carrying their 

170 



CARLISLE OLD AND NEW 

own messages to such as are willing to receive 
them. 

Thus Carlisle has come again to its own. Not 
forgetting altogether the example and teachings of 
those who served in the past, its citizens of the New 
unite in spirit with those of the Old in recognizing 
that "the noblest motive is the public good." 




Young Carlisle 



171 



AFTERWORD 

THE tale, although imperfectly told, is fin- 
ished. Its omissions and exclusions are 
such that many will sigh for a pen that 
could have written in a more acceptable manner 
the history of Carlisle, — the narrative of its tradi- 
tions, events and local legends. 

There is no pretense in these pages to literary 
merit. They have been prepared, and the pictures 
have been gathered, in a spirit of tender loyalty 
which will somewhat atone for the shortcomings 
of the work. 

As the little volume starts upon its journey to 
the homes and hearts of the people of Carlisle 
and of its friends abroad, may it be accorded a 
kindly welcome and a gentle judgment. 



173 



W 98 



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